BGSU to Battle Ball State in MAC Tournament Wednesday

Wednesday, March 11

Cleveland, Ohio

4 p.m. (approx.)

Bowling Green State University

Ball State (Quarterfinal)

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March 09, 2026 | Women's Basketball

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Falcons and Cardinals to meet in quarterfinal round in downtown Cleveland

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2026 | 4:00 P.M. (approx.) | ROCKET ARENA | CLEVELAND, OHIO

BOWLING GREEN
FALCONS
(17-13 [9-9 MAC])

vs.

BALL STATE
CARDINALS
(25-6 [16-2 MAC])


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

WHAT, WHEN & WHERE
• The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, having won four of the last five regular-season games, heads to Cleveland for the Mid-American Conference Tournament. Head coach Fred Chmiel and the Falcons, the number-seven seed for the league tourney, will face second-seeded Ball State University in Wednesday's (March 11) quarterfinal round.

• The game, the third quarterfinal of the day, is scheduled to tip at approximately 4:00 p.m. at Rocket Arena.

WHERE TO WATCH / LISTEN
• Wednesday's BSU game 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 IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT
• BGSU enters Wednesday's Ball State game with an all-time record of 48-30 in MAC Tournament contests. The Falcons have won 11 league tournament titles, the most of any conference institution, and BG has the second-highest winning percentage (.615) of any team in tourney games. BGSU's conference tournament win total also places the Falcons second among MAC teams. A complete list of BGSU's game-by-game results in the MAC Tournament can be found elsewhere in these notes.

FALCONS VS. BALL STATE IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT
• The Falcons and Ball State are meeting for the ninth time in MAC Tournament play, and the fifth time in downtown Cleveland. BGSU is 6-2 in tourney meetings with BSU, including a 3-0 record at home and a 3-2 mark at neutral sites.

• The teams have met on four previous occasions inside the building now known as Rocket Arena. Most recently, the Falcons picked up a 70-61 win in the semifinal round three years ago.

• BGSU is 3-0 in quarterfinal-round meetings with the Cardinals, and the Falcons are 2-1 in the semifinals and 1-1 in championship-game encounters vs. BSU.

• All three previous quarterfinal-round matchups came inside venerable Anderson Arena within a five-year span (1993-97), with all three won by the Falcons.

• The complete list of MAC Tournament meetings between the Falcons and BSU...
BGSU VS. BSU IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT...
Year Rd. Opponent (Site) Result
1989 SF Ball State (Centennial Hall; Toledo)    W 86-71
1993 QF BALL STATE (Anderson Arena) W 75-39
1994 QF BALL STATE (Anderson Arena) W 78-67
1997 QF BALL STATE (Anderson Arena) (OT) W 81-76
2007 CG Ball State (Quicken Loans Arena; Cleveland)   W 67-53
2009 CG Ball State (Quicken Loans) L 51-55
2014 SF Ball State (Quicken Loans) L 55-73
2023 SF Ball State (Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse; Cleveland)  W 70-61

FALCONS BY ROUND AND SITE IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT
• Entering Wednesday's action, the Falcons have an all-time record of 17-9 in the MAC Tournament's quarterfinal round. BGSU is 15-8 in the semifinals and 11-4 in championship-game appearances over the years.

• The Falcons also have marks of 4-8 in the first round, 1-0 in second-round games and 0-1 in the third round, as the tourney format has changed over the years.

• BGSU is a perfect 10-0 in MAC Tournament home games, including a 1-0 mark at the Stroh Center. The Falcons are 2-11 in true road games and 36-19 in neutral-site contests in the league tourney over the years.

NUMBER THREE IS NUMBER ONE
• After missing Wednesday's (March 4) Central Michigan game, sophomore Johnea Donahue returned to action Saturday (March 7), and had a game-high six steals in the win over Northern Illinois, increasing her school-record total to 113 steals this season to date.

• Donahue broke that record during another home win – the Toledo game on Feb. 21 – when she also had six steals. The previous record of 101 steals was set by Nyla Hampton three years ago (2022-23).

• Donahue, in her second season as a Falcon, has two of the top-10 single-season steals totals in school history. She recorded 69 steals as a freshman, a total which is now tied for ninth on the BGSU single-season list. She averaged 2.46 steals per game a year ago, ranking 10th on that school chart.

• Donahue is currently averaging 4.19 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.

• In fact, if the Falcons played nine more games this season, and Donahue played in all nine without recording a steal, she would still break Scott's single-season spg record. The single-season lists for steals and steals per game are on page 16.

• And, Donahue – did we mention she's a sophomore? – has moved onto the Falcons' top-20 list for career steals. She enters the Ball State contest with a career total of 182 steals, tying her for 14th in school history. And, she is on pace to obliterate the school's career record for steals per game as well as the single-season mark. The career steals lists can be found on page 26.

• Donahue's total of 113 steals is the third-highest single-season total in MAC history. That list is on page 16 of these very notes.

TOP-TEN TAYA
• Junior Taya Ellis had a career-high six blocked shots in the win over Toledo (Feb. 21), in the process moving into the top 10 on BGSU's career list in that category. Ellis, who blocked four more shots in the win at Ohio (Feb. 25), now has 72 career blocks, ranking ninth in school history.

• Those 72 rejections have come in 81 career games. Ellis currently ranks fourth on the BGSU career list for blocks per game, with 0.89.

MILLENNIUM FALCON: PK MOVING UP BGSU SCORING LIST
• Junior Paige Kohler reached the 1,000-point mark for her career on Jan. 21, and had a BGSU season-high 26 points vs. Buffalo (Feb. 10) to surpass the 1,100-point plateau. On Saturday (March 7), Kohler reached the 1,200-point mark.

• Back in late January, 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.

• Kohler currently sits in 26th place on the BGSU career scoring list, with 1,206 career points. She enters the Ball State game just six points shy of the top 25.

DONAHUE'S DOMINANCE
• Johnea Donahue has had more than her share of well-rounded games in 2025-26. The sophomore was named MAC Player of the Week after scoring a career-high 24 points and adding six rebounds, six assists and six steals at Wisconsin (Nov. 12).

• She missed two games due to injury in mid-December, but returned to action and posted a double-double in the MAC opener vs. Kent State (Dec. 20). She had a game-high 19 points and a career-high 11 boards en route to another MAC P-O-T-W honor.

• Some of her other marquee performances this winter include...

• An eight-steal game – all in the first half and just two shy of the school single-game record – vs. Kentucky State (Dec. 3);
• A double double with 10 points and 10 boards at Eastern Michigan (Dec. 30);
• Her second eight-steal game of the season, along with 10 points, five assists and four rebounds, in the win at Northern Illinois (Jan. 10);
• A game-high six steals in back-to-back games, vs. Massachusetts (Jan. 24) and Akron (Jan. 28), with 21 points in the UA contest;
• A 19-point, seven-rebound, four-steal performance at Toledo (Jan. 31);
• A 12-point, six-board, seven-steal game at Ball State (Feb. 14), with six of those seven steals coming in the first half;
• Six more steals, along with 14 points, six caroms and three assists and a 7-for-7 fourth-quarter free-throw performance, at WMU (Feb. 18);
• A stuffed stat sheet that included 10 points, seven rebounds, a career-high seven assists and six steals in the win over UT (Feb. 21); and
• An even more stuffed sheet of stats on Saturday (March 7), as she had 12 points, a BG-high eight rebounds and game-best totals of seven assists and six steals vs. NIU.

• Currently, Donahue is averaging 4.19 steals per game this season, which leads the MAC and ranks her third in the entire nation. And, she is ranked among the MAC leaders in total steals (first, 113 – 30 more than anyone else in the league), rebounds (15th), assists (seventh), free-throw pct. (13th), assist/turnover ratio (ninth) and minutes played (15th) as well.

THE FALCONS VS. THE MAC
• Historically, the Falcons have been one of the top programs in the Mid-American Conference. Through the 2025-26 regular season, BGSU has gone 478-283 (.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, tied for the highest total of any league 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.

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 14.9 ppg, and she is second in assists (3.0 apg). Kohler is listed among the top players in the MAC in scoring (seventh), assists (13th), three-pointers made per game (third), three-point percentage (18th) and minutes played (fifth).

• In her first three seasons at BGSU, Kohler has compiled impressive totals of 1,206 points, 394 rebounds, 312 assists and 183 three-point field goals made. She has moved into 26th place on the BGSU career scoring list, and also is currently ranked on the school's career charts for points per game (ninth, 13.11), assists per game (eighth, 3.39), three-pointers made (ninth) and three-pointers made per game (fourth, 1.99).

• Kohler has been in the starting lineup for all 92 of BGSU's games since she arrived on campus.

SPEAKING OF THE STARTING LINEUP...
• Junior Joniyah Bland-Fitzpatrick joined classmates Taya Ellis and Paige Kohler, senior Kaia Woods and redshirt junior Jasmine Fearne in the starting five on Wednesday (March 4) at Central Michigan, it marked the Falcons' 11th different starting lineup this season to date. Then, on Saturday (March 7), Woods, Kohler and Fearne were joined by seniors Kendal Moxey and Emily Siesel in the starting five, marking BG's 12th different combination this year. The Brown and Orange utilized five different lineups during all of last year and six the previous season (2023-24).

• A total of 11 different players each have started at least one game this year. That group includes a pair of fourth-year Falcons (Fearne and Siesel) who had never started a collegiate contest prior to Nov. 22, 2025.

• Kohler is the only player who has started all 30 games this year, while sophomore Johnea Donahue and Ellis have made 26 and 24 starts, respectively. Woods has started 22 games, sophomore Lauren Gerken 17 and Fearne 15.

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, while still recovering from that setback. But, she has hit double figures 15 times in the last 18 contests, including in 14 of the Falcons' last 16 games. Gerken tied her career high with four three-point field goals made, en route to a season-high 18 points at Massachusetts (Jan. 24), and tied that mark with 18 points against Coastal Carolina (Feb. 7). On Saturday (March 7), she came off the bench to score 17 points in the Falcons' win over Northern Illinois at the Stroh.

• After making 14 three-point field goals in the first 14 games this season, Gerken has hit 37 long-distance shots over the last 16 contests (2.3 per game during that time).

• Gerken, who has played the equivalent of just over one college season, is averaging 9.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, and has hit 65 three-pointers and blocked 53 shots in 40 career games. She has moved into a tie for 16th on BGSU's career blocked-shots list.

LEADERS OF THE MAC
• Johnea Donahue and Paige Kohler, as mentioned earlier, each are ranked among the MAC leaders in numerous statistical categories. But, they are far from the only Falcons who are ranked among the conference's top performers...

• Junior Taya Ellis is ranked in the top 10 in three different categories, including blocked shots (fourth, 1.07 bpg), free-throw percentage (eighth) and rebounding (10th), while sophomore Lauren Gerken is second in blocks (1.60) and 10th in three-point field goals per game.

• Additionally, senior Kaia Woods is 11th in the MAC in free-throw pct. (.767) and 15th in assists, while redshirt junior Jasmine Fearne is 28th in three-point pct.

PROTECT THE STROH
• After beating NIU Saturday (March 7), the Falcons finished with a record of 12-3 at the Stroh Center this season. That record includes wins over preseason MAC favorite Kent State (Dec. 20) and arch-rival Toledo.

• The Falcons went 11-2 in home games last winter. BGSU's home winning percentage (.846) in 2024-25 was the third best since the Stroh Center opened in 2011. Only the 2013-14 (16-1, .941) and '11-12 (14-2, .875) teams have had better marks during that time. This season (2025-26) marks the sixth time that BG has had a home winning percentage of .800 or better since the Stroh opened.

• Over the last six seasons, the Falcons have gone 64-20 (.762) at the Stroh.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE CARDINALS
• Ball State has an overall record of 25-6, and the Cardinals finished the regular-season schedule with a MAC mark of 16-2. BSU tied for first place in the final league standings, and the Cards are the second seed for the league tournament. BSU ended the regular season with a three-game winning streak, including Saturday's (March 7) 78-71 victory at Toledo.

• The Cardinals are 12-2 at home, 11-4 on the road and 2-0 in neutral-site games this season to date. In MAC action, BSU went 8-1 at Worthen Arena and 8-1 inside hostile venues as well.

• Tessa Towers (15.3), Bree Salenbien (15.1) and Grace Kingery (13.3) all are averaging over 13 points per game this season. Towers has 8.3 rebounds per contest, with Salenbien at 7.4 rpg, while Karsyn Norman has 9.4 ppg and a team-high 4.8 assists per outing.

• Towers is second in the MAC in field-goal percentage (.569), fourth in rebounding and fifth in scoring, while Norman is fifth in assists. Salenbien is the only player ranked in the top 10 in the MAC in scoring (sixth), rebounding (seventh) and assists (10th), and Kingery leads the league in three-point pct. (.412).

• Head coach Brady Sallee and the Cardinals have put together that 25-6 record despite returning just four players, including zero starters, from last year's team. The 2024-25 squad went 27-8 overall and 16-2 in the MAC, winning the conference regular-season and tournament titles.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead Ball State, 48-29, in the all-time series, but BSU has captured the last three meetings, including this season's lone matchup. The Cardinals won an 82-67 decision in Muncie on Valentine's Day (Feb. 14, 2026).

• BSU's current three-game win streak – with all three contests having taken place at Worthen Arena – came after the Falcons had won the two previous games, nine days apart, in March of 2023. BG picked up a home win on national television late in the regular season (81-76 in overtime; March 1, 2023), then downed the Cards in the MAC Tournament in Cleveland (70-61; March 10, 2023).

• Overall, the Falcons are 26-7 at home, 19-19 on the road and 3-3 in neutral-site meetings with the Cardinals over the years. More information can be found on page 28 of these very notes.

DOWN THE ROAD
• The BGSU-Ball State winner will advance to Friday's (March 13) semifinal round, to face either third-seeded Massachusetts or sixth-seeded Toledo. That semifinal game will begin at approximately 12:30 p.m. at Rocket Arena.

• The MAC Tournament's championship game is set for Saturday (March 14) at 11:00 a.m. Rocket Arena.

STORIES & LINKS
Feb. 19 - BG Falcon Media - "Bowling Green Has My Heart": Inside the Return of Kadie Hempfling
Feb. 16 - Toledo Blade ($$$) - Former Liberty-Benton Star Gerken Finding Stride with BGSU
Feb. 5 - BG Falcon Media - From Sao Paulo to the Stroh: Moschen's Journey to BGSU
Jan. 17 - BGSU - The Game Within the Game: Kohler's Psychology of Winning
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.