Falcons Head to Amherst for Saturday Morning's MAC Matchup with Massachusetts

Saturday, January 24

Amherst, Mass.

11 a.m.

Bowling Green State University

Massachusetts

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Ky'Aira Miller v Le Moyne | Dec. 16, 2025

Photo by: Drake Harlett, BGSU Athletics

Falcons Head to Amherst for Saturday Morning's MAC Matchup with Massachusetts

January 23, 2026 | Women's Basketball

BGSU Notes UMass WBB BGSU WBB Media Central Support BGSU WBB

BGSU faces the Minutewomen in an 11:00 a.m. start

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2026 | 11:00 A.M. | MULLINS CENTER | AMHERST, MASS.

BOWLING GREEN
FALCONS
(10-8, 3-4 MAC)

MASSACHUSETTS
MINUTEWOMEN
(13-4, 5-2 MAC)


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

WHAT, WHEN & WHERE
• The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team hits the road to face the newest member of the Mid-American Conference this weekend. Head coach Fred Chmiel and the Falcons meet the University of Massachusetts on Saturday (Jan. 24), with tipoff set for 11:00 a.m. at the Mullins Center.

• The game was moved from Sunday (Jan. 25) to Saturday due to the forecast of inclement weather for much of the nation this weekend.

WHERE TO WATCH / LISTEN
• Saturday's UMass matchup – as is the case with all of BGSU's home games (and all of the Falcons' conference road contests) – 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.

MILLENNIUM FALCON: PK REACHES 1K
• Junior Paige Kohler hit a corner three on the opening possession of Wednesday night's (Jan. 21) game vs. Ohio, in the process surpassing the 1,000-point milestone for her BGSU career.

• Kohler is the 33rd player in program history to reach the millennium mark. And, she is tied for the seventh-fastest player to get to the 1,000-point plateau, having done so in her 80th career game in the Orange and Brown. The list of fastest Falcons to 1,000 points can be found on page 7 of these very notes.

MORE FUN WITH NUMBERS
• Wednesday's (Jan. 21) game vs. Ohio was the 750th Mid-American Conference regular-season game in program history. And, Saturday's UMass matchup will be BGSU's 1,500th overall game.

• The Falcons enter Saturday's contest with an all-time record of 916-583 (.611) and a 472-278 (.629) MAC mark.

THE FALCONS VS. THE MAC
• Historically, the Falcons have been one of the top programs in the Mid-American Conference. Entering the UMass game (as we literally just mentioned), BGSU has gone 472-278 (.629) in league regular-season games over the years. 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.

DONAHUE'S DOMINANCE
• Sophomore Johnea Donahue has had numerous well-rounded games, to say the least, in 2025-26. After missing two games due to injury in mid-December, 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 that 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.

• After her performance v KSU, she posted her second-straight double-double at Eastern Michigan (Dec. 30), with 10 points and 10 boards.

• Donahue had her second eight-steal game of the season in the win at Northern Illinois (Jan. 10), adding 10 points, five assists and four rebounds vs. the Huskies.

• Currently, Donahue is averaging 3.94 steals per game this season, which leads the MAC and ranks fourth in the entire nation. And, she is ranked among the MAC leaders in total steals (first, 63), rebounds (15th), assists (seventh), free-throw percentage (eighth) and assist/turnover ratio (ninth) as well.

DONAHUE = DEFENSE
• As a freshman in 2024-25, Johnea Donahue recorded a total of 69 steals, tying her for eighth on the BGSU single-season list. She averaged 2.46 steals per game a year ago, ranking 10th on that school chart.

• This winter, Donahue has a MAC-leading 63 steals, tying her for 19th on the school single-season chart less than halfway through the conference season. As mentioned in the above note, Donahue is currently averaging 3.94 steals per game, and is on pace to shatter the BGSU record in that category. The single-season record is 3.07 spg, by Talita Scott in 1993-94.

• The single-season lists for steals and steals per game can be found on page 16.

KOHLER, UNSURPRISINGLY, 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.

• Kohler, a native of Olmsted Falls, Ohio, earned All-MAC Honorable mention last season, and also was named to both the Academic All-MAC Team and the Academic All-District® Team, selected by College Sports Communicators. The guard started all 31 games in 2024-25, and averaged 35.0 minutes, 13.6 points and 4.6 boards per game, finishing second on the club in both scoring and rebounding.

• This season, Kohler leads the Falcons in scoring, with 13.8 ppg, and she is second in assists (3.5 apg). Kohler is listed among the top-10 players in the MAC in scoring (eighth), assists (ninth), three-pointers made per game (sixth), assist/turnover ratio (eighth) and minutes played (fifth).

• In her first two-and-a-half seasons at BGSU, Kohler has compiled impressive totals of 1,007 points, 344 rebounds, 286 assists and 149 three-point field goals made. She has moved into 32nd place on the BGSU career scoring list, and also is currently ranked on the school career lists for points per game (11th, 12.59), assists per game (eighth, 3.58), three-pointers made (16th) and three-pointers made per game (sixth, 1.86).

• Kohler has been in the starting lineup for all 80 of BGSU's games since she arrived on campus.

SPEAKING OF THE STARTING LINEUP...
• The Falcons have used nine different starting lineups this season to date, after the Brown and Orange utilized 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 18 games this year, while sophomore Johnea Donahue and junior Taya Ellis have made 16 and 15 starts, respectively.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE MINUTEWOMEN
• Massachusetts enters Saturday's game with an overall record of 13-4, and the Minutewomen are tied for fourth place in the MAC with a 5-2 league ledger. The team's only two conference losses have come to the co-leaders, Miami and Ball State. Most recently, UMass saw a three-game winning streak halted with Wednesday's (Jan. 21) 78-60 loss at BSU. Massachusetts is a perfect 7-0 at home, 5-3 on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site contests this season to date.

• The Minutewomen lead the MAC in both assist/turnover ratio and fewest turnovers page game.

• Yahmani McKayle leads the team in both scoring and assists, with 16.3 points and 5.3 assists per game, while Megan Olbrys has 13.9 ppg and a team-best 7.7 rebounds per outing. Allie Palmieri has 11.9 ppg and has made 29 three-pointers (second behind McKayle's 35), while Ayanna Franks has 8.5 ppg and a team-best 3.1 steals per contest. Those four players each have started all 17 games to date.

• Head coach Mike Leflar welcomed back eight letterwinners, including four starters, from a 2024-25 team that went 17-15 overall and 11-7 in the school's final season in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Minutewomen advanced to the second round of the WNIT last March.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead Massachusetts, 2-0, in the all-time series, but the teams have not met in just over 12 years. BGSU picked up a 64-61 win in the team's lone previous trip to Amherst, during the 2012-13 season (Dec. 19, 2012).

• Then, exactly one year later, (Dec. 19, 2013), the Falcons outscored the Minutewomen by a point per minute in an 86-46 victory at the Stroh Center.

• Interestingly (??), the date of that game – like this season's meeting – was moved due to weather. The 2013-14 matchup was played four days later than originally scheduled due to travel/weather issues that prevented the UMass travel party from flying out of Boston. More information on the series can be found on page 26 of these very notes.

DOWN THE ROAD
• Following the UMass matchup, the Falcons will return home to face Akron on Wednesday night (Jan. 28). That game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will begin a two-game road swing with this season's first edition of the "Battle of I-75." BGSU will make the short trip north to face Toledo on Satruday, Jan. 31, with tipoff at 5:00 p.m.

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.