Bowling Green State University Athletics
BG (Brittney Griner) came to BG (Bowling Green) & helped her Baylor Bears begin a national-championship run
15 Moments In 15 Years Of The Stroh Center: The NCAA Tournament Comes to BG
July 03, 2026 | General, Women's Basketball, Stroh Center
This summer, join BGSU Athletics in a look back at the first 15 years inside the Stroh Center. We continue the trek through history with two milestone moments in the history of BGSU Basketball.
Previous Moments in the Series…
1 – Opening The Doors
2 – Volleyball Opens the Building With a B!G Win
3 – Hoops Hit the Hardwood
A B!G Announcement – Before the Building Even Opened
On Oct. 26, 2010, the BGSU Athletics Department announced that the University would host the first and second rounds of the 2012 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament in the Stroh Center, an arena which had not even been completed at that point.Â
From that day on, the Athletics Department, the University, and the community went to work to make sure the event would be special.
Almost a year and a half later, on Selection Monday (March 12, 2012), the town of Bowling Green learned which teams would compete inside the Stroh. Along with Ohio State, Florida, and UC Santa Barbara, the four-team field would include undefeated Baylor, the top-ranked team in the country. Baylor, featuring the dominant Brittney Griner, entered the national tournament with a 34-0 record.
Not surprisingly, tickets for all three games sold out in advance, and the joint was jumpin' when the teams took the floor on Sunday, March 18.
Gators Top Buckeyes, 70-65
In the first game, Jennifer George had 16 points and six rebounds to lead ninth-seeded Florida to a 70-65 win over Ohio State. The Gators (20-12) scored the game's first nine points and held on to knock off the eighth-seeded Buckeyes (25-7).
Tayler Hill scored 23 points for Ohio State, including two late baskets to pull the Buckeyes within two. Florida patiently worked the ball inside to George, who scored inside with 45 seconds to play.
The Gators led 7-0 before the Buckeyes even got a shot off, and Florida led 39-31 at the half. Ohio State scored the first two baskets of the second half, but the Gators regrouped and went ahead 44-35 on a 3-pointer. OSU would cut the lead to four, three and two points, but the Gators had an answer each time, and Florida advanced to the second round.
Baylor Bounces UCSB
Sunday's second game saw top-seeded Baylor take a 10-0 lead over 16th-seeded UC Santa Barbara by the first media timeout, and the Gauchos (17-16) never recovered. Head coach Kim Mulkey's Bears picked up an 81-40 win at the Stroh.
Baylor led by a 46-16 score at halftime and never looked back. Brittney Griner, who wowed the Stroh Center crowd by dunking during warmups, scored 14 points in 22 minutes, while her team's stifling defense never let the Gauchos get untracked.
Did That Just Happen?
In the second round on Tuesday night (March 20), all five starters scored in double digits for Baylor (36-0), as the Bears posted a 76-57 victory over the Gators (20-13). But, that's not all people were talking about at the end of the game.
The 4,097 fans in the building, along with those watching on ESPNU, witnessed history, as early in the second half Griner made the second dunk in women's NCAA Tournament history.
"I could tell the fans enjoyed it when I dunked in warm ups," said Griner after the game. "I think the team got fired up from that but I got fired up on one of my blocks."
It was Griner's sixth dunk in a game in her collegiate career.
"We played a great team that played great," Florida coach Amanda Butler said.
The Gators stayed within striking distance for a while. After an early Baylor surge, a 9-0 Florida run cut the Bears' lead to 26-20 late in the first half. Baylor's lead never dropped below double digits after the first 1:04 of the second half, however, and the biggest lead was 23 with two minutes to play.
But the big story, as mentioned, was Griner's dunk.
"That wasn't a barely over the rim dunk, it was a monster dunk and it fired me up," Mulkey said. "We see it in practice all the time."
Bears Go On To Win It All
After the two wins at the Stroh, Baylor went on to defeat Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Stanford and Notre Dame to win the national championship. The Bears became the first collegiate basketball team to go 40-0, and Griner was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
1 – Opening The Doors
2 – Volleyball Opens the Building With a B!G Win
3 – Hoops Hit the Hardwood
A B!G Announcement – Before the Building Even Opened
On Oct. 26, 2010, the BGSU Athletics Department announced that the University would host the first and second rounds of the 2012 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament in the Stroh Center, an arena which had not even been completed at that point.Â
From that day on, the Athletics Department, the University, and the community went to work to make sure the event would be special.
Almost a year and a half later, on Selection Monday (March 12, 2012), the town of Bowling Green learned which teams would compete inside the Stroh. Along with Ohio State, Florida, and UC Santa Barbara, the four-team field would include undefeated Baylor, the top-ranked team in the country. Baylor, featuring the dominant Brittney Griner, entered the national tournament with a 34-0 record.
Not surprisingly, tickets for all three games sold out in advance, and the joint was jumpin' when the teams took the floor on Sunday, March 18.
Gators Top Buckeyes, 70-65
In the first game, Jennifer George had 16 points and six rebounds to lead ninth-seeded Florida to a 70-65 win over Ohio State. The Gators (20-12) scored the game's first nine points and held on to knock off the eighth-seeded Buckeyes (25-7).
Tayler Hill scored 23 points for Ohio State, including two late baskets to pull the Buckeyes within two. Florida patiently worked the ball inside to George, who scored inside with 45 seconds to play.
The Gators led 7-0 before the Buckeyes even got a shot off, and Florida led 39-31 at the half. Ohio State scored the first two baskets of the second half, but the Gators regrouped and went ahead 44-35 on a 3-pointer. OSU would cut the lead to four, three and two points, but the Gators had an answer each time, and Florida advanced to the second round.
Baylor Bounces UCSB
Sunday's second game saw top-seeded Baylor take a 10-0 lead over 16th-seeded UC Santa Barbara by the first media timeout, and the Gauchos (17-16) never recovered. Head coach Kim Mulkey's Bears picked up an 81-40 win at the Stroh.
Baylor led by a 46-16 score at halftime and never looked back. Brittney Griner, who wowed the Stroh Center crowd by dunking during warmups, scored 14 points in 22 minutes, while her team's stifling defense never let the Gauchos get untracked.
Did That Just Happen?
In the second round on Tuesday night (March 20), all five starters scored in double digits for Baylor (36-0), as the Bears posted a 76-57 victory over the Gators (20-13). But, that's not all people were talking about at the end of the game.
The 4,097 fans in the building, along with those watching on ESPNU, witnessed history, as early in the second half Griner made the second dunk in women's NCAA Tournament history.
"I could tell the fans enjoyed it when I dunked in warm ups," said Griner after the game. "I think the team got fired up from that but I got fired up on one of my blocks."
It was Griner's sixth dunk in a game in her collegiate career.
"We played a great team that played great," Florida coach Amanda Butler said.
The Gators stayed within striking distance for a while. After an early Baylor surge, a 9-0 Florida run cut the Bears' lead to 26-20 late in the first half. Baylor's lead never dropped below double digits after the first 1:04 of the second half, however, and the biggest lead was 23 with two minutes to play.
But the big story, as mentioned, was Griner's dunk.
"That wasn't a barely over the rim dunk, it was a monster dunk and it fired me up," Mulkey said. "We see it in practice all the time."
Bears Go On To Win It All
After the two wins at the Stroh, Baylor went on to defeat Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Stanford and Notre Dame to win the national championship. The Bears became the first collegiate basketball team to go 40-0, and Griner was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
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