BGSU Wraps Up Home Portion of January Slate With Wednesday's Akron Matchup

Wednesday, January 28

Bowling Green, Ohio

7 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Akron

Tickets From $11 - $17

Johnea Donahue v Central Michigan | Jan. 3, 2026

Photo by: Drake Harlett, BGSU Athletics

BGSU Wraps Up Home Portion of January Slate With Wednesday's Akron Matchup

January 27, 2026 | Women's Basketball

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

Falcons host the Zips in a 7:00 p.m. start at the Stroh

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2026 | 7:00 P.M. | STROH CENTER | BOWLING GREEN, OHIO

BOWLING GREEN
FALCONS
(10-9, 3-5 MAC)

vs.

AKRON
ZIPS
(3-16, 0-7 MAC)


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

WHAT, WHEN & WHERE
• The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team closes the home portion of the January schedule with a Mid-American Conference midweek matchup. Head coach Fred Chmiel and the Falcons meet the University of Akron on Wednesday (Jan. 28), with tipoff set for 7:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.

WHERE TO WATCH / LISTEN
• Wednesday's Akron game – as is the case with all of BGSU's home games (and all of the Falcons' conference road contests 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.

CLEAR BAG MANDATE
• Beginning Jan. 1, 2026, a clear bag mandate is now in effect for games at BGSU venues, including the Stroh Center. Media members attending games will need to use only the media entrance as part of the mandate. For more information, please click here.

PARKING CHANGES FOR 2025-26
Additional Limited Mobility Parking Now Available for All Home Basketball Games
• To better accommodate fans and guests with limited mobility, additional designated parking spaces will now be available for all upcoming home Men's and Women's Basketball games at the Stroh Center.
• Additional parking will be located on the north side of Lot 24, beginning with the first row of spaces adjacent to the grass area and including the next two rows directly behind it. Guests utilizing these spaces should enter through the Student Entrance, located on the north side of Lot 24. From there, fans may use the service elevator to access the main arena and seating areas.
• Limited mobility parking will remain paid parking and will be clearly marked with signage indicating the designated spaces and new location.

MILLENNIUM FALCON: PK REACHES 1K
• Junior Paige Kohler will be recognized in a brief on-court ceremony prior to Wednesday's Akron game. Last Wednesday (Jan. 21), Kohler knocked down a corner three on the opening possession of the Falcons' game vs. Ohio, in the process surpassing the 1,000-point milestone for her BGSU career.

• Kohler became 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.

FAMILIAR FACES
• A pair of players – one on each side – each will be facing their former team on Wednesday night. BGSU's Kaia Woods, a transfer from Akron, played in all 29 games for the Zips two seasons ago (2023-24), averaging 6.9 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists and a team-high 1.0 steals per game.

• Akron's Keiryn.McGuff is in her first season with the Zips after playing a total of 38 games over the last two years at BGSU. She averaged 3.7 points and 3.6 rebounds per game for the Falcons a year ago.

BE READY WHEN YOUR NAME IS CALLED
• The Falcons, despite getting a season-low five points from players off the bench in Saturday's (Jan. 24) game at UMass, rank among the nation's leaders in that category. BGSU is third in the MAC and 54th in the country in bench scoring, with an average of 24.2 points per game.

• BGSU's bench has outscored the opponent's reserve players in 13 of 19 games this season (with one tie). The Falcons have gotten at least 25 points from players off the bench on seven occasions, including three games with over 50 such points.

• Akron, Wednesday's opponent, leads the MAC and ranks 34th in the country in bench scoring (26.1 ppg).

THE FALCONS VS. THE MAC
• Historically, the Falcons have been one of the top programs in the Mid-American Conference. Entering the Akron game, BGSU has gone 472-279 (.628) 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.

NINE FOR NINE
• Junior Taya Ellis erupted for a career-high 20 points on Saturday (Jan. 24), and went a perfect 9-for-9 from the field at UMass. That marks the third-best field-goal percentage in a game in program history.

• Michelle Terry holds the BGSU record, having gone 11-for-11 from the floor in a win over Eastern Michigan (Feb. 14, 1996), while Erica Porter had a 10-for-10 performance against Buffalo just under two years ago (Feb. 28, 2024).

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, and was named MAC Player of the Week for the second time this year.

• 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 Kent State, 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. And, the sophomore had a game-high six steals at Massachusetts (Jan. 24).

• Currently, Donahue is averaging 4.06 steals per game this season, which leads the MAC and ranks second in the entire nation. And, she is ranked among the MAC leaders in total steals (first, 69), rebounds (17th), assists (seventh), free-throw percentage (10th) and assist/turnover ratio (10th) and minutes played (15th) as well.

DONAHUE = DEFENSE
• As a freshman in 2024-25, Johnea Donahue had 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 69 steals, tying her for eighth on the school single-season chart less than halfway through the conference season. As mentioned in the above note, Donahue is currently averaging 4.06 steals per game, and is on pace to shatter the BGSU record in that category. Currently, 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 13.7 ppg, and she is second in assists (3.4 apg). Kohler is listed among the top-10 players in the MAC in scoring (10th), 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 1,019 points, 344 rebounds, 288 assists and 151 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's career charts for points per game (11th, 12.58), assists per game (eighth, 3.56), three-pointers made (16th) and three-pointers made per game (sixth, 1.86).

• Kohler has been in the starting lineup for all 81 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 different players each 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 19 games this year, while sophomore Johnea Donahue and junior Taya Ellis have made 17 and 16 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...

• Sophomore Lauren Gerken is third in the league in blocked shots (1.16) and 11th in three-pointers made per game (1.58), while junior Taya Ellis is tied for sixth in the MAC in blocks (0.82 bpg). Ellis is also ranked in free-throw percentage (eighth) and rebounding (10th).

• Junior Jaedyn Cook is tied for 13th in blocks (0.65 bpg in just 7.8 minutes per game), while senior Kaia Woods is ninth in the MAC in free-throw pct. (.786) and redshirt junior Jasmine Fearne is 22nd in three-pointers per game.

GERKEN!
• Sophomore Lauren Gerken, after missing the final 21 games of last season due to injury, scored in double digits twice in the first 12 games this winter. But, she has hit double figures six times in the last seven contests, including in each of the Falcons' last five games. Most recently, she tied her career high with four three-point field goals made, en route to a season-high 18 points at Massachusetts (Jan. 24).

• After making 14 three-point field goals in the first 14 games this season, Gerken has hit 16 long-distance shots over the last five contests. She is shooting 43.2 percent (16-of-37) from the arc during that five-game span.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE ZIPS
• Akron enters Wednesday's contest an overall record of 3-16 and a MAC mark of 0-7. The Zips have been idle since last Wednesday's (Jan. 21) 74-53 loss to Central Michigan. Akron is 2-6 at home, 0-9 on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site contests this season to date.

• Ni'Rah Clark leads the team in scoring and ranks second in rebounding, with 12.0 points and 5.5 boards per game. Monique Mitchell has 9.8 ppg, while BGSU transfer Keiryn McGuff has 9.1 ppg and a team-leading 5.9 rpg to date.

• Head coach Ryan Gensler welcomed back seven letterwinners, including four starters, from a 2024-25 team that went 10-21 overall and 4-14 in the MAC.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead Akron, 61-14, in the all-time series, and BGSU has captured the last four meetings. Last season, the Orange and Brown picked up an 82-69 win at the Stroh Center in the teams' lone matchup (Jan. 29, 2025).

• BGSU's four-game series win streak has come after Akron had taken the previous three games and seven of nine meetings from 2019-22. Overall, the Falcons have gone 32-5 at home, 27-8 on the road and 2-1 in neutral-site meetings with Akron over the years. More information can be found on page 26 of these very notes.

DOWN THE ROAD
• Following the Akron matchup, the Falcons will hit the road for the next two games, beginning with a trip to the Glass City on Saturday (Jan. 31). BGSU will meet Toledo in this season's first "Battle of I-75," with tipoff set for 5:00 p.m. at Savage Arena.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will venture to Northeast Ohio for a meeting with Kent State on Wednesday, Feb. 4. The Falcons' next home game comes three days later (Sat., Feb. 7), when BG hosts Coastal Carolina in the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge. That will also be BGSU's annual Play4Kay Game.

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.