Falcons Head to DeKalb for Saturday Meeting with Huskies

Saturday, January 10

DeKalb, Ill.

3 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Northern Illinois

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January 09, 2026 | Women's Basketball

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BGSU battles NIU at the Convocation Center

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

SATURDAY, JANUARY 10, 2026 | 3:00 P.M. ET | CONVOCATION CENTER | DEKALB, ILL.

BOWLING GREEN
FALCONS
(8-6, 1-2 MAC)

NORTHERN ILLINOIS
HUSKIES
(3-11, 1-2 MAC)


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

WHAT, WHEN & WHERE
• The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team heads to the Mid-American Conference's "West Coast" this weekend. Head coach Fred Chmiel and the Falcons venture to DeKalb, Ill., for a Saturday (Jan. 10) meeting with Northern Illinois University. Tipoff is set for 3:00 p.m. ET at the Convocation Center.

• Saturday's game is the second of three-straight road games in which the opposing team's head coach has BGSU ties.

WHERE TO WATCH / LISTEN
• Saturday's NIU 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 Northern Illinois game, BGSU has gone 470-276 (.630) 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.

FAMILIAR FACES ON THE ROAD
• Saturday's NIU game will be the second of three-straight road contests in which the opposing head coach has ties to BGSU.

• BG opened the road portion of the MAC schedule at Eastern Michigan, where Sahar Nusseibeh is in her second season as head coach. Nusseibeh was an assistant coach for the Falcons for three seasons (2013-16).

• Saturday's game will see the Falcons face a Northern Illinois squad coaced by Jacey Brooks. Brooks was an assistant coach at BGSU for five seasons (2013-18).

• Brooks and Nusseibeh were both on the staff in 2013-14, as the Falcons went 30-5 overall, won the MAC's regular-season title and advanced to the quarterfinal round of the WNIT.

• And, Wednesday's (Jan. 14) opponent, Western Michigan, is coached by BGSU Hall-of-Famer Kate Achter. During her Falcon career (2004-08), Achter helped BG to four MAC regular-season titles, three MAC Tournament crowns and four national postseason appearances. She helped the Orange and Brown go 108-23 overall and 57-7 in the MAC. Achter had 1,580 career points as a Falcon, and remains BGSU's all-time assists leader, with 688.

• The BGSU reunions are not limited to head coaches. Audra Clark is an assistant coach under Brooks at NIU. Clark spent the last two seasons on Fred Chmiel's staff at BGSU, serving as the video coordinator in 2023-24 before being named director of player personnel for the '24-25 campaign.

• Former Falcon Andrea Cecil is an assistant coach under Achter at WMU. Cecil played three years at BGSU, scoring 891 points and earning All-MAC Third-Team honors as a junior in 2018-19. She missed the '19-20 season due to injury before playing two seasons at Florida Gulf Coast as a graduate transfer.

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 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 in Tuesday's (Dec. 30) Eastern Michigan game, with 10 points and 10 boards.

• Donahue is averaging 3.67 steals per game, which leads the MAC and ranks 11th in the entire nation. And, she is ranked among the MAC leaders in total steals (tied for first), scoring (16th), rebounds (13th), assists (seventh), free-throw percentage (third) and assist/turnover ratio (seventh) 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.

• 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.

• Kohler made a team-leading 76 three-point field goals last winter, shooting 36.7% from the arc. She averaged 3.58 steals and had a 1.82 assist/turnover ratio, ranking second on the Falcons in both areas. And, Kohler was second in the entire MAC in both minutes per game and three-pointers made per game (2.5).

• This season, Kohler leads the Falcons in scoring, with 14.7 ppg, and she is second in assists (3.6 apg). She is listed among the MAC leaders in scoring (sixth), assists (eighth), three-pointers (seventh), assist/turnover ratio (second) and minutes played (eighth).

• In her first two-and-a-half seasons at BGSU, Kohler has compiled impressive totals of 965 points, 330 rebounds, 273 assists and 141 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, 12.70), assists per game (eighth, 3.59), three-pointers made (18th) and three-pointers made per game (sixth, 1.86).

• Kohler has been in the starting lineup for all 76 of BGSU's games since she arrived on campus.

SPEAKING OF THE STARTING LINEUP
• The Falcons have used eight different starting lineups through the first 14 games this season, 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 14 games this year, while sophomore Johnea Donahue and junior Taya Ellis and have made 12 and 11 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 third in the league in blocked shots (1.17 bpg), and is also in the top 10 in free-throw percentage (sixth) and rebounding (10th).

• Sophomore Lauren Gerken is fourth in the league in blocked shots (1.07), while junior Jaedyn Cook is ninth in that category (0.85 bpg in just 9.3 minutes per game). And, senior Kaia Woods is fourth in the MAC in free-throw pct. (.838).

LAST TIME OUT: FALCONS FALL TO CMU DESPITE MOXEY'S CAREER DAY
• Senior Kendal Moxey had her finest game in a BGSU uniform to date, but the Falcon lost for the first time at home this season. BG dropped a 68-56 decision to Central Michigan on Saturday (Jan. 3) at the Stroh Center.

• Moxey came off the bench to record a double-double for the Falcons (8-6, 1-2 MAC). She led the Orange and Brown with 16 points and 15 rebounds, obliterating her previous bests since joining the program prior to last season. A whopping 10 of her 15 rebounds came at the offensive end of the court, the highest total by a Falcon in seven years.

• Junior Paige Kohler joined Moxey in double digits in the scoring column, with 11 points, while classmate Taya Ellis had eight points and eight boards. Senior Kaia Woods scored seven points and grabbed seven rebounds as BGSU had a 45-37 rebounding advantage.

• Defense was the story in the early going, as the Falcons held a 5-2 lead midway through the first period, before Lilah Turnbull's three-point field goal began a 10-0 run for the visitors. BGSU battled back from that seven-point deficit, tying the score on a three-point play by Moxey with 3:26 to go before halftime. Moxey was on the receiving end of 10 of CMU's 29 fouls committed in the game.

• The visitors forged back ahead before the Falcons tied the score with a 4-0 run – all on Moxey free throws – sending the teams into their respective locker rooms knotted at 26-all.

• Central, however, began the second half on a 7-0 run to take the lead for good. That lead reached 12 before an Ellis three-point play ended the third-quarter scoring, but the visitors scored the first five points of the fourth period to take a 14-point lead, the largest of the game, with 7:55 to go.

• The Falcons cut that deficit half with 6:06 remaining, and got as close as five points on Johnea Donahue's driving layup with 1:39 left, but could draw no closer. CMU scored the game's last five points at the foul line.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE HUSKIES
• Northern Illinois enters Saturday's game with an overall record of 3-11 and a MAC mark of 1-2, after posting a 64-58 win at Buffalo Wednesday night (Jan. 7) which snapped a seven-game losing streak. The Huskies are 1-3 at home and 2-8 on the road this season to date.

• Nevaeh Wingate leads the team in both scoring and rebounding, with 12.4 points and 5.7 boards per contest. Nadechka Laccen is averaging 11.6 ppg, while Emilie Sorensen had 20 points in Wednesday's win at UB.

• First-year head coach Jacey Brooks has six letterwinners back from a 2024-25 team that went 13-17 overall and 6-12 in the Huskies' penultimate season in the MAC.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead Northern Illinois, 30-22, in the all-time series, and the teams split last year's meetings. BGSU picked up a 74-60 win at the Stroh (Jan. 18, 2025), before NIU posted an 84-77 win in double overtime in DeKalb (March 1, 2025).

• BGSU has won three of the last four meetings and six of the last eight contests, after Northern reeled off seven-straight wins from 2017-21. Overall, the Falcons are 17-10 at home, 12-12 on the road and 1-0 in neutral-site meetings with the Huskies over the years. More information can be found on page 25 of these very notes.

DOWN THE ROAD
• Following the NIU contest, the Falcons will return to the road for a midweek matchup in Kalamazoo. BGSU will face Western Michigan on Wednesday night (Jan. 14), with tipoff set for 7:00 p.m. at University Arena.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will return home to face Miami on Saturday, Jan. 17. The Falcons and RedHawks will meet in a 4:00 p.m. start on Alumni Day at the Stroh Center.

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.