Fourth-Quarter Rally Falls Just Short as Ball State Outlasts Falcons, 75-63

Wednesday, March 11

Cleveland, Ohio

4 p.m. (approx.)

Bowling Green State University

17-14,9-9MAC

Ball State (Quarterfinal)

26-6,16-2MAC

Bowling Green

Ball St.

Photo by: Daniel Carlson, BGSU Athletics

Fourth-Quarter Rally Falls Just Short as Ball State Outlasts Falcons, 75-63

March 11, 2026 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Support BGSU WBB & BGSU One Day

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team gave Ball State University all they wanted and more, but the second-seeded Cardinals advanced past the Falcons, 75-63, in Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinal-round action Wednesday (March 11) at Rocket Arena.

Paige Kohler scored 16 points for the Falcons (17-14 [9-9 MAC]), while Lauren Gerken and Kaia Woods had 13 apiece. Johnea Donahue had seven points, 10 rebounds and three steals.

The Falcons trailed by 17 points late in the first half, but battled back to within four points with a 9-1 run early in the fourth quarter. A Gerken three-pointer was followed by a Jaedyn Cook bucket and a transition layup from Kohler, cutting BSU's lead to 56-52 with seven minutes left.

The score remained the same for roughly two minutes, before Grace Kingery made a layup. Kohler answered by slicing through traffic for a layup, but after a near turnover by the Cardinals (26-6 [16-2 MAC]), Kingery hit a three-pointer. Kingery led all players with 25 points.

With the margin six points several minutes later, Kingery knocked down a second-chance three, and Bree Salenbien, who had 18 points, gave the Cards a 10-point lead with a triple with 1:35 to go.

Ball State advances to Friday's (March 13) semifinal round.

FIRST QUARTER
• The Falcons held two early leads after buckets by Taya Ellis and Paige Kohler, but Grace Kingery's three-pointer was followed by a Tessa Towers jumper. Johnea Donahue hit a spinning layup, and Kaia Woods grabbed a BSU miss and went the length of the court for a layup and an 8-7 BGSU lead. Another coast-to-coast trip for Woods resulted in a jumper and a 10-9 lead at the media timeout.
• A BSU layup out of that timeout was followed by a Bree Salenbien three-pointer that gave the Cards a 14-10 lead. Joniyah Bland-Fitzpatrick came up with a steal and ended the ensuing possession with a layup, but the Cards answered with a five-point run that included a Kingery triple. Ky'Aira Miller, however, made a driving 'and-one' layup with 2.4 seconds to go, and the freshman's free throw cut the BSU lead to 19-15 after 10 minutes.

SECOND QUARTER
• The Cardinals extended the lead with the first five points of the second period, but after a long two-point jumper by Lauren Gerken, Woods hit a layup. However, after the Falcons nearly got a held ball, Salenbien knocked down a three-point try for a 29-19 BSU lead.
• Woods made a driving layup that ended a BG scoring drought of several minutes, but Alba Caballero answered with a layup, and a Zhen Verburgt three-pointer gave the Cards a 15-point lead, 36-21.
• Jasmine Fearne drained a short-corner jumper, ans Woods made a driving layup, but the Cardinals answered each time, and when Kingery hit a jumper with 1:20 left in the half, BSU had a 17-point lead, the largest of the game. Gerken's three-point play with 17.7 seconds on the clock cut that lead to 14, 42-28, at the intermission.

THIRD QUARTER
• The teams traded points over the first half of the third quarter. Donahue made a pair of free throws, Kohler hit a floater in traffic and Donahue got back to the line. The lead fluctuated between 13 and 15 points during that stretch, but Kohler made a layup off of a nifty Donahue pass, and Donahue then fed Fearne for a shot from the arc – BGSU's first made three-pointer of the game – cutting the deficit to 10 points with 4:19 left in the quarter.
• A three-point try by Kingery rattled in, but a Donahue steal led to a Gerken trey to make it a 10-point game once again. Bland-Fitzpatrick harried the Cardinals into a double-dribble, and the Falcons forced a shot-clock violation on the next BSU possession.
• Then, after a Donahue steal, Woods found Gerken for a floater that cut the deficit to single digits momentarily. Salenbien ended the quarter with a layup to give her team a 53-43 lead.

FOURTH QUARTER
• BSU opened the fourth-period scoring on a Towers layup, but Donahue somehow scored in traffic, and after a Salenbien free throw, Woods found Gerken for a long-range make, and Kohler spotted Jaedyn Cook for a layup. Moments later, a Donahue defensive rebound led to a Kohler transition bucket, and the Falcons had cut the lead to 56-52 with 7:08 to go.
• Bland-Fitzpatrick drew an offensive foul on the Cardinals, and the Falcons forced a shot-clock violation, then a missed three-pointer. But, BG could not further cut into the deficit, and Kingery's layup midway through the quarter gave the Cards a six-point lead.
• Kohler sliced between two defenders for a layup, but after a near turnover by the Cardinals, the ball was kicked out to Kingery, who hit a three-pointer. Woods came up with a steal and a nifty layup, but Salenbien's second-chance triple try was good. Kohler scored quickly, but another trey by Kingery put BSU up by nine, 67-56.
• Kohler was fouled and made both free-throw tries, but the Cardinals used most of the shot clock on the next possession before Salenbien knocked down a three-point shot for a 70-60 lead with 1:35 to go. BG got within eight on a Kohler bucket, but Ball State sealed the win at the foul line.

FOR MORE INFORMATION...
• For more information on 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.