Chippewas Come to Town Saturday as BGSU Opens 2026 Portion of Schedule

Saturday, January 3

Bowling Green, Ohio

2 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Central Michigan

Tickets From $12 - $20

Sofia Moschen | Dec. 30, 2025, at Eastern Michigan

Photo by: Curt Lydy, Falcon Media Sports Network

Chippewas Come to Town Saturday as BGSU Opens 2026 Portion of Schedule

January 02, 2026 | Women's Basketball

BGSU Notes CMU WBB BGSU-CMU Rosters BGSU WBB Media Central Support BGSU WBB

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2026 | 2:00 P.M. | STROH CENTER | BOWLING GREEN, OHIO

BOWLING GREEN
FALCONS
(8-5, 1-1 MAC)

vs.

CENTRAL MICHIGAN
CHIPPEWAS
(7-5, 1-1 MAC)


WATCH: ESPN+ \| LISTEN: Falcon Media Sports \| LIVE STATS: BGSU-CMU \| TWITTER/X: @BGSUwbb \| INSTAGRAM: bgsuwbb

WHAT, WHEN & WHERE
• The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, after suffering a loss for the first time in nearly six weeks, will return to the Stroh Center to begin the 2026 portion of the schedule. Head coach Fred Chmiel and the Falcons face Central Michigan University in a Mid-American Conference matchup on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 3), with tipoff set for 2:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.

WHERE TO WATCH / LISTEN
• Saturday's CMU contest – as is the case with all of BGSU's home games (and many road games as well) – will be streamed via ESPN+. Additionally, all 2025-26 games will have an audio stream, thanks to BG Falcon Media Sports.

STATS & SOCIAL MEDIA
• Links to audio, video and live stats for all 2025-26 games can always be found on the web at BGSUFalcons.com – both on the women's basketball schedule page and in the right column on the main page – on game day.

THE FALCONS VS. THE MAC
• Historically, the Falcons have been one of the top programs in the Mid-American Conference. Entering the Central Michigan game, BGSU has gone 470-275 (.631) in league regular-season games. The Falcons have the second-highest winning percentage of all MAC institutions, and the second-most conference wins of all 13 programs.

• BGSU has won 15 MAC regular-season titles, which is tied for the highest total of any conference institution. And, the Falcons have won a league-best 11 MAC Tournament titles.

• BGSU leads the all-time series with all 12 conference foes, making the Falcons – obviously – the only team in the league with a winning record against every other school. BG also has the most overall victories and highest overall winning pct. of any league institution.

PROTECT THE STROH
• The Falcons enter Saturday's CMU contest with a 6-0 record at the Stroh Center this season to date. That record includes a 73-69 win over preseason MAC favorite Kent State in the conference opener (Dec. 20).

• The Falcons went 11-2 in home games last winter. BGSU's home winning percentage (.846) in 2024-25 was the third best since the Stroh Center opened in time for the 2011-12 season. Only the 2013-14 (16-1, .941) and '11-12 (14-2, .875) teams have had better marks during that time.

• Over the last five seasons (plus six games), the Falcons have a record of 58-17 (.773) inside the Stroh.

DONAHUE'S BEEN DOMINANT
• Sophomore Johnea Donahue has had several well-rounded games, to say the least, in the early portion of the 2025-26 campaign. After missing the previous two games due to injury, Donahue returned to action and posted a double-double in the MAC opener against Kent State (Dec. 20). She had a game-high 19 points along with a game- and career-high 11 rebounds in the win, and was named MAC Player of the Week for the second time this season.

• Donahue also had been named MAC P-O-T-W after stuffing the stat sheet with a career-high 24 points, six rebounds, six assists and six steals at Wisconsin (Nov. 12), followed by a 16-point performance at Marquette two nights later.

• The guard had eight steals, falling just two shy of the school record, in BGSU's win over Kentucky State (Dec. 3). All eight steals came in the first half.

• She posted her second-straight double-double in Tuesday's (Dec. 30) Eastern Michigan game, with 10 points and 10 boards.

• Donahue is averaging 3.55 steals per game, which leads the MAC and ranks 12th in the entire nation. And, she is ranked among the MAC leaders in total steals (first), scoring (14th), rebounds (12th), assists (seventh), free-throw percentage (third) and assist/turnover ratio (also third) as well.

KOHLER NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-MAC TEAM
• BGSU junior Paige Kohler was named to the 2025-26 Preseason All-MAC First Team, which was determined via voting by the league's 13 head coaches.

• This season, Kohler leads the Falcons in scoring, with 15.0 ppg, and she is second in assists (3.8 apg). She is listed among the MAC leaders in scoring (tie-fifth), assists (eighth), three-pointers (seventh), assist/turnover ratio (second) and minutes played (eighth).

• In her first two seasons at BGSU (plus 13 games), Kohler has compiled impressive totals of 954 points, 329 rebounds, 272 assists and 140 three-point field goals made. She has moved into 35th place on the BGSU career scoring list, and also is currently ranked on the school career lists for points per game (10th, 12.72), assists per game (seventh, 3.63), three-pointers made (18th) and three-pointers made per game (sixth, 1.87).

• Kohler has been in the starting lineup for all 75 of BGSU's games since she arrived on campus.

SPEAKING OF THE STARTING LINEUP
• The Falcons used seven different starting lineups through the first 13 games this season, after the Brown and Orange had five different lineups during all of last year and six the previous season (2023-24).

• A total of 10 players have started at least one game this year to date. That group includes a pair of fourth-year Falcons (senior Emily Siesel and redshirt junior Jasmine Fearne) who had never started a collegiate contest prior to Nov. 22. Junior Paige Kohler is the only player who has started all 13 games this season, while sophomore Johnea Donahue and junior Taya Ellis and have made 11 and 10 starts, respectively.

LEADERS OF THE MAC
• Johnea Donahue and Paige Kohler are far from the only Falcons who are listed among the MAC leaders in various statistical categories...

• Junior Taya Ellis is second in the league in blocked shots (1.27 bpg), and is also in the top 10 in free-throw percentage (fourth) and rebounding (10th).

• Senior Emily Siesel is seventh in the conference in three-point field-goal percentage (.382), while redshirt junior Jasmine Fearne is tied for seventh in three-pointers per game (1.85).

• Sophomore Lauren Gerken is third in the league in blocked shots (1.15), while junior Jaedyn Cook is tied for seventh in that category (0.85 bpg in just 9.3 minutes per game). And, senior Kaia Woods is eighth in the MAC in free-throw pct. (828).

LAST TIME OUT: EAGLES SNAP FALCONS' SEVEN-GAME WINNING STREAK, 86-76
• The Falcons saw a seven-game winning streak come to an end on Tuesday (Dec. 30), as BG fell, 86-76, to Eastern Michigan at the George Gervin GameAbove Center.

• Sophomore Johnea Donahue had a double-double for the second-straight game, with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Falcons (8-5, 1-1 MAC). Four players scored in double digits for the Orange and Brown, led by junior Paige Kohler with 18. Senior Kaia Woods had 15 points and a team-leading four assists, while sophomore Lauren Gerken, like Donahue, scored 10 points.

• Three players scored at least 20 points apiece for the Eagles (7-5, 1-1 MAC). Fernanda Ovalle led the way with 26 points and 10 rebounds, while Peyton Hill had 22 points and Sisi Eleko 20. Ainhoe Cea scored 10 points and also had game-high totals of six assists and three steals.

• The game saw the teams whistled for a combined 54 fouls and shoot a total of 81 free throws. The Eagles took 48 shots at the line, making 37 for a 77.1 percent success rate.

• EMU's total of 48 free-throw attempts is the most by a BGSU opponent in program history, while the Eagles' 37 charity tosses made fell just one shy of that record for a Falcon foe (38 FTM by Kent State; Jan. 17, 2000).

• The Falcons went 27-of-33 (81.8%) at the stripe.

• Tuesday's game also featured 13 ties and a whopping 21 lead changes. After a first half in which neither team led by more than four points, the Eagles answered a 4-0 run by the Falcons with a 7-0 run of their own midway through the third period. The latter run included a pull-up jumper by Hill that broke a 43-43 tie, and the hosts never trailed again.

• EMU had a 38-32 rebounding lead, and also had slim advantages in points in the paint (34-28) and points off turnovers (16-10). BGSU had a 17-2 lead in bench scoring.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE CHIPPEWAS
• Central Michigan enters Saturday's game with an overall record of 7-5 and a MAC mark of 1-1. After posting an 89-51 blowout win over Northern Illinois in the league opener, the Chippewas dropped a narrow 85-83 overtime decision to Ohio on Wednesday afternoon (Dec. 31). Central is 4-1 at home and 3-4 on the road this season to date.

• Madi Morson leads the team and ranks second in the entire MAC in scoring, with 16.3 points per game. Ayanna-Sarai Darrington has 14.5 ppg and 7.6 rebounds per game to rank second on the team in both categories, after totaling 27 points and 21 rebounds against Ohio. Demetria Prewitt leads the league in field-goal percentage, at 62.1 percent (36-for-58), and Darrington is also shooting better than 60% from the floor.

• Head coach Kristin Haynie welcomed back nine letterwinners, including three starters, from a 2024-25 team that went 14-17 overall and 9-9 in the MAC.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead Central Michigan, 54-23, in the all-time series, and BG has captured the last six meetings. Last season, BGSU picked up a 76-69 win in Mount Pleasant (Feb. 1, 2025) and a 70-55 verdict at the Stroh Center two weeks later (Feb. 15, 2025).

• Prior to BGSU's current six-game winning streak, Central had won six of seven series meetings from 2015-21. CMU's last victory in the series was a 77-72 decision in the 2021 MAC Tournament championship game. Overall, the Falcons are 29-7 at home, 21-11 on the road and 4-5 in neutral-site meetings with the Chippewas over the years. More information can be found on page 25 of these very notes.

DOWN THE ROAD
• Following the CMU contest, the Falcons will hit the road for the next two games, beginning with a game at Northern Illinois on Saturday, Jan. 10. Tipoff is set for 3:00 p.m. ET at the Convocation Center in DeKalb, Ill.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will venture to Kalamazoo to face Western Michigan (Jan. 14), before returning home to meet Miami on Saturday, Jan. 17.

STORIES & LINKS
Dec. 18 - Lorain Morning Journal - Olmsted Falls Grad Kohler Looks to Lead Falcons
Nov. 25 - Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum - Walk-on to Captain: Siesel's Patience Pays Off at Bowling Green

FOR MORE INFORMATION...
For more information on BGSU women's hoops, be sure to follow the Falcons on Facebook (@BGWBB), Twitter/X (@BGSU_Athletics and @BGSUWBB) and Instagram (@bgsuwbb), as well as on the web at BGSUFalcons.com.