Rockets Outlast Falcons Saturday in Toledo, 59-49

Saturday, January 31

Toledo, Ohio

5 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

11-10,4-6MAC

Toledo

11-8,6-3MAC

Bowling Green

Toledo

Photo by: Daniel Carlson, BGSU Athletics

January 31, 2026 | Women's Basketball

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By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

TOLEDO, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team battled back from an 18-point first-quarter deficit to take the lead, but the host University of Toledo pulled away late for a 59-49 victory on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 31), in Mid-American Conference action at John F. Savage Arena.

Sophomore Johnea Donahue had a game-high 19 points for the Falcons (11-10, 4-6 MAC), adding four steals and a pair of blocked shots. Junior Paige Kohler joined Donahue in double digits in the scoring column, with 12 points.

The Rockets (11-8, 6-3 MAC) were led by Ella Weaver's 15 points off the bench, with Patricia Anumgba adding 13.

Trailing, 23-5, late in the first quarter, the Falcons proceeded to score the game's next 17 points, with a pair of Donahue free throws making it a one-point game. The Rockets recovered to take a five-point lead at the half, but BGSU held the hosts to just two third-quarter field goals, and a layup by Taya Ellis in the final minute gave the Falcons a 40-39 lead after 30 minutes.

UT forged back ahead with a 7-0 run to begin the fourth quarter, but BG battled back within one possession on multiple occasions. Donahue's long pass found Joniyah Bland-Fitzpatrick ahead of the pack for a layup with under two minutes to go, cutting the Rockets' lead to 52-49, and Donahue immediately came up with a steal, but the Falcons could not capitalize as a three-pointer was off the mark. On the next possession, Anumgba hit a three-pointer with the shot clock winding down, putting UT ahead by six with 53.8 seconds.

The Falcons forced the Rockets into 25 turnovers on the day, but UT had a 54-26 rebounding advantage.

NOTE OF THE NIGHT
• The Falcons' 17-0 run against Toledo on Saturday is tied for BGSU's largest scoring run against an NCAA Division-I team this season to date. BG also scored 17-straight points against Le Moyne on Dec. 16, 2025.

• BGSU has had a pair of 27-0 runs, but both game against non Division-I foes, Kentucky State (Dec. 3) and Defiance (Dec. 7).

FIRST QUARTER
• To say the game did not start well for the Falcons would be an understatement. Toledo scored the first 12 points of the contest before Lauren Gerken knocked down a three-point shot with 4:29 left in the opening quarter.
• Prior to Gerken's trey, the Falcons had six turnovers and four missed shots on the team's first 10 possessions.
• During that same stretch of five-plus minutes, the Rockets scored on six possessions and had just two turnovers.
• Johnea Donahue made a pair of free-throw attempts to give BG a 5-0 run, but Ella Weaver then scored five-straight points, with two charity tosses and a corner three that bounced around the rim before dropping through the hoop. Patricia Anumgba followed with a layup, and four more free throws gave the Rockets a 10-0 run and a 23-5 lead with 1:42 left in the quarter.
• Donahue was fouled and sank a pair of shots, and after an unforced turnover by the hosts, the sophomore's layup cut the UT lead to 23-9 after the opening quarter.

SECOND QUARTER
• After committing six turnovers in the game's first five-plus minutes, BGSU turned the ball over only five more times over the remainder of the half, including just twice in the second quarter. Meanwhile, Toledo committed15 turnovers during that same stretch, and 17 in the entire half.
• Emily Siesel's defensive rebound led to a transition layup from Donahue, and Donahue then fed Paige Kohler for a three-pointer, prompting the Rockets to burn a timeout.
• Several minutes later, Gerken came up with a steal, took a return pass from Siesel and hit a trailing three. Then, after Gerken blocked a UT shot on the very next possession, Kohler fed Siesel for a triple. Donahue tied up Kandell Carruthers, giving the ball back to BG, and a pair of free throws by the sophomore meant the Falcons trailed by just one point, at 23-22.
• Weaver hit a three-point attempt, snapping BGSU's 17-0 run. Weaver's trey produced UT's first points in a span of 8:05, and it marked the Rockets' first successful field goal in 9:15.
• Kohler answered with a driving layup, but another Weaver three-point try bounced in, putting the hosts up by five. Kohler scored on another layup, before Evyn Carrier's putback at the buzzer gave UT a 31-26 lead at the half.

THIRD QUARTER
• Donahue's circus-shot layup began the second-half scoring, before Carruthers hit a layup two-and-a-half minutes into the quarter. Those were the only four points of the first four-plus minutes of the period, before Kaia Woods hit a pair of free-throw tries at the 5:41 mark.
• After a pair of UT tosses, Kohler took a Woods handoff and hit a trailing three to make it a 35-33 game. The Rockets went back ahead by five, before Donahue hit a jumper in the paint and Taya Ellis sank a pair of free-throw tries.
• Toledo's Miriam Diala missed two shots from the stripe on the next possession, and when Donahue fed Ellis for a layup with 53 seconds left in the quarter, the Falcons led for the first time all game. BG held that 40-39 lead when the period ended.

FOURTH QUARTER
• Faith Fedd-Robinson scored the first four points of the final period, with a layup just over one minute in and a pair of free throws 26 seconds later. UT would go up by five, 46-41, on a three-point play by Evalyse Cole with 6:48 to go, but after Kohler took a charge against Carruthers, Donahue scored on a nifty hesitation jumper midway through the quarter.
• Toledo would go back up by six after a Cole free throw and a Diala layup, but Kohler drew a foul and hit two shots, and Donahue's layup made it a 49-47 game with 3:17 to go.
• Diala split a pair of free throws, and Weaver hit a jumper with the shot clock winding down. But, Donahue spotted Joniyah Bland-Fitzpatrick ahead of the pack for an uncontested layup with 1:45 to go. And, Donahue immediately came up with a steal, but BGSU could not capitalize as a three-point shot was off the mark.
• The next possession saw Anumgba hit a three-pointer that gave her team a six-point lead with just 53.8 seconds remaining. BGSU called a timeout, but a layup on the next possession was no good, and the Falcons fouled Fedd-Robinson, who hit one free throw to give the hosts a 56-49 lead with 43.2 seconds remaining.
• And, a turnover on the next possession was followed by a Weaver layup, putting UT up by nine with just 34.2 seconds on the clock.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons will return to the road for a midweek MAC matchup at the M.A.C. Center. BGSU will take on Kent State on Wednesday (Feb. 4), with tipoff set for 7:00 p.m.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will return to the Stroh to face Coastal Carolina in the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge three days later (Feb. 7). Tipoff for the CCU game – BG's annual Play4Kay game – is set for 2:00 p.m.

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