MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12  |  6:30 P.M.  |  ROCKET ARENA  |  CLEVELAND, OHIO

JUMP BALL
• The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team heads to downtown Cleveland this week, as Mid-American Conference Tournament play begins. Head coach Fred Chmiel and the Falcons, the sixth seed for the eight-team tournament, will face the third-seeded University at Buffalo in quarterfinal-round action on Wednesday evening (March 12) at Rocket Arena. The BGSU-UB game, the fourth and final contest of the day, is tentatively scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• There are many ways to keep up with the Falcons in 2024-25...

• TV/VIDEO: Wednesday's Buffalo game will be streamed via ESPN+.
• RADIO/AUDIO: The UB matchup, as is the case for all of BGSU's 2024-25 games, is scheduled to have an audio stream thanks to Falcon Media Sports Network.
• LIVE STATS: Live stats are scheduled to be available for all games in '24-25.
• TWITTER/X & THE 'GRAM: In-game updates, along with other key information, can be found on the BGSU women's basketball Twitter/X account (@BGSUWBB), with periodic updates on the program's Instagram account (bgsuwbb) as well.

• For all of the pertinent links to any and all ways to follow the Falcons, go to BGSUFalcons.com and navigate your way to the "women's basketball schedule" page on game day.

THE FALCONS IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT
• BGSU enters Wednesday's Buffalo game with an all-time record of 48-29 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 (.623) 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 in the PDF version of these notes.

FALCONS VS. UB IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT
• The Falcons and Buffalo are meeting for the fifth time in MAC Tournament play, and the third time in downtown Cleveland. BGSU is 1-3 in tourney meetings with UB, including an 0-2 record on the road and a 1-1 mark at neutral sites. The teams have met on two previous occasions, both within the last four years, inside the building now known as Rocket Arena. The Falcons picked up 80-67 win over UB in the league tournament semifinals in 2021.

• The teams are meeting in the quarterfinal round for the second-straight season. Last March, the Bulls came away with a 70-64 win.

• The Falcons' other two tourney meetings with Buffalo came on the road in back-to-back years, with the Bulls winning by nearly identical scores. Those matchups came in 2016 and 2017 at Alumni Arena.
BGSU VS. BUFFALO IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT...
Year   Round  Opponent (Site)                                   Result
2016    1st   at Buffalo                                       L 44-60
2017    1st   at Buffalo                                       L 45-61
2021     SF   Buffalo (Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse; Cleveland)  W 80-67
2024     QF   Buffalo (Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse; Cleveland)  L 64-70

LAST TIME OUT: BGSU TAKES CARE OF BUSINESS AT EMU
• The Falcons took care of business on Saturday afternoon (March 8), wrapping up the regular-season schedule with an 87-67 road win over Eastern Michigan at the George Gervin GameAvove Center.

• Lexi Fleming had a game-high 21 points to pace four double-digit scorers for the Falcons. Paige Kohler had 18 points, while Amy Velasco and Erika Porter added 17 and 15, respectively.

• Kohler added seven rebounds and seven assists in the win, while Porter was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field.

• After scoring a school-record 21 points in the first quarter of Wednesday's (March 5) win over Kent State, Fleming had another successful start in Ypsilanti. Fleming had 13 points in the first 10 minutes of the contest, as BGSU shot 78.6 percent (11-of-14) from the field in the opening period. BG led, 24-10, before the Eagles ended the quarter on a 10-3 run to get within eight points.

• But, BG slowly pulled away. The Falcons led by 16 at the half, and after the margin stayed in the low- to mid-teens for much of the third quarter, a late Velasco triple gave the Falcons a 69-50 lead, and BGSU extended the lead to 21 early in the fourth period.

ABOUT THAT 21-POINT QUARTER...
• Lexi Fleming scored no fewer than 21 points in the first quarter last Wednesday evening (March 5), as the Falcons defeated Kent State, 84-61, at the Stroh Center.

• The Falcons led from wire to wire, as Fleming scored 25 points to pace four players in double digits in the win. Paige Kohler had 17 points and a game-high eight rebounds, with Erika Porter and Amy Velasco scoring 13 points apiece.

• Fleming's 21-point quarter shattered the school record. She made 7-of-8 shots from the field, including a 6-for-7 performance from three-point range, in the quarter.

• With the Flashes paying extra attention to Fleming after that outburst, she attempted only five total shots over the remaining three quarters, but dished out six assists to tie Velasco for game honors in the win.

QUARTERLY REPORT: FLEMING SHATTERS THE SCHOOL RECORD
• Fifth-year Falcon Lexi Fleming, as mentioned, shattered the school record for points in a quarter, with 21 in the first quarter vs. Kent State. She broke the record held by Carly Santoro, who had 17 points in the second quarter of a win over Eastern Kentucky (Nov. 10, 2017).

• The list of top point totals in a quarter in BGSU history follows...
BGSU RECORD BOOK – MOST POINTS IN A QUARTER, INDIVIDUAL
21  Lexi Fleming vs. Kent State (March 5, 2025 – first quarter)                    
17  Carly Santoro vs. Eastern Kentucky (Nov. 10, 2017 – second quarter)            
16  Angela Perry vs. California Baptist (Nov. 30, 2019 – third quarter)            
16  Morgan Sharps at Wright State (Dec. 12, 2023 – third quarter)                  
15  Five times (MR: Amy Velasco at Northern Ill. [Feb. 24, 2024 – fourth quarter]) 
14  Five times (MR: Amy Velasco vs. Florida [March 27, 2023 – third quarter])      

SHOOT GOOD, DEFEND GOOD, AND IT'S ALL GOOD
• It would seem that shooting the ball well, combined with defending well, would be a recipe for success. That has certainly been the case for the Falcons in the last two games. BGSU shot better than 50 percent against both Kent State and Eastern Michigan, while holding the Flashes and Eagles under 40%, en route to a pair of wins by a combined 43 points.

• BGSU shot 56.1% from the floor vs. KSU, and the Falcons went 12-of-24 (50%) from long distance. Kent State shot 38.7% from the field and 41.7% from the arc. Then, three days later, the Falcons shot 58.2% overall and again shot 50% (8-for-16) from long range, while holding EMU to a 34.4% success rate.

THIS ONE GOES TO ELEVEN
• Erika Porter, in particular, shot the ball very well in the KSU and EMU games. Porter was a combined 11-for-11 from the field in those two wins. More about Porter's prolific production in the paint can be found later in these notes.

HOME COOKIN'
• The Falcons finished the home portion of the schedule with a record of 11-2. BGSU's home winning percentage (.846) in 2024-25 is the third best since the Stroh Center opened 14 years ago.

• The 2013-14 Falcons went 16-1 at home (.941), winning 16-straight games at home – including three WNIT victories at the Stroh – before losing to Rutgers in a WNIT quarterfinal-round game.

• The 2011-12 club, the first BG team to play at the Stroh, went 14-2 (.875), with the only losses each coming by one point, against #16/20 Purdue in the first women's game in the history of the building, and vs. VCU in the WNIT.

• Over the last five seasons, the Falcons have a record of 47-17 (.734) inside the Stroh.

THREE-MENDOUS
• The Falcons' total of 18 three-point field goals made against Ohio (Feb. 26) broke the school record. BGSU had made 16 triples on no fewer than eight previous occasions, most recently against Furman in March of 2022.

SHARING IS CARING
• The Falcons recorded a season-high assist total in the Ohio game (Feb. 26), with 26 assists on 31 field goals. That total was the Falcons' highest in over two years, since BG dished out 26 assists in a win at Buffalo on Jan. 25, 2023.

• BGSU is now 8-0 this season when recording 20 or more assists in a game.

VELASCO'S ON A VERY SHORT LIST
• Amy Velasco enters the Buffalo bout with career totals of 1,521 points and 494 assists at BGSU. She is one of only two players in program history to score more than 1,500 points and dish out more than 400 assists.

• The only other player in that exclusive club is BGSU Hall-of-Famer Kate Achter, who had 1,580 points and a school-record 688 assists from 2004-08.

EP = ELITE PERFORMER
• It's no secret that Erika Porter can shoot the ball well. How well? Very well. So well, in fact, that she has already set several school records and is on pace for another.

• Last season, Porter shot 66.3 percent from the field, making 159 of her 240 shots to set a new school single-season record in that category. In fact, she broke not only the BG record, but the MAC single-season mark as well, and she ranked second in the entire nation in field-goal percentage a year ago.

• Porter shot 68.2% from the field in MAC games last season, making 107 of her 157 attempts. She shattered that BGSU record (65.5%, Talita Scott in '92-93) and fell just shy of breaking the conference mark (68.9%, Buffalo's Heather Turner in 2006-07).

• Now, Porter is on pace to shatter another BGSU record – the school career record for field-goal pct. Entering the Buffalo game, Porter has shot 61.7% (287 of 465) from the field in her BG tenure, well ahead of the current record of 57.0% (Jacki Raterman, 1995-99). At the risk of being mentioned by @OldTakesExposed, we'll just go ahead and say it – Porter is a virtual lock to break this record.

• The complete list of BGSU career FG pct. leaders can be found on page 26 of the PDF.

PK10 GETS IT DONE
• Sophomore Paige Kohler has stuffed the stat sheet on multiple occasions this season. Kohler had 28 points, seven rebounds and seven assists to lead the team in all three categories in a win over Akron on Jan. 29. That came two weeks after she flirted with a triple-double at Ohio (Jan. 15), with 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

• She began February with a team-best 17 points in a win at Central Michigan (Feb. 1), including arguably the biggest bucket of the game. With under a minute to play and the Falcons leading by a single point, Kohler hit a long three-point attempt to give BGSU a 71-67 lead with 42.0 seconds to go.

• Beginning with the Akron contest, she led the Falcons in scoring in each of four-straight MAC games. More recently, Kohler tied for game honors with 22 points against Ohio (Feb. 26) before scoring 17 points against both Northern Illinois (March 1) and Kent State (March 5). At Eastern Michigan on Saturday (March 8), she had 18 points to go along with seven rebounds and seven assists.

• Kohler, who has started all 61 of BGSU's games since her arrival on campus, heads into the Buffalo game with impressive career totals of 745 points, 271 rebounds and 217 assists. She currently ranks 13th in BGSU history in career scoring average (12.21 ppg), and is eighth in career assists per game (3.56).

THE FLEMING FACTOR
• Lexi Fleming has been a B!G part of the Falcons' success since arriving at BG. The MAC Freshman of the Year in 2020-21, Fleming missed the entire '21-22 season due to injury, but returned to the court in 2022-23 and saw action in 36 games as BGSU went 31-7. She was injured in December of 2023 and missed nearly an entire year, before returning to the court for this season's Xavier game (Dec. 7).

• In the seasons in which Fleming has been healthy for the majority of the year (i.e., more than 10 games), the Falcons' records are as follows...
    • 2020-21:    21-8, 14-4 MAC (MAC regular-season champions; WNIT)
    • 2022-23:    31-7, 14-4 MAC (T-second in the MAC; WNIT Fab Four)
    • 2024-25:    18-12, 11-7 MAC (heading into Wednesday's UB game)

• Fleming surpassed the 1,000-point mark on Jan. 18. She became the 32nd player to reach that plateau, and she did so in her 82nd career game, tying her for the ninth-fastest player to reach the millennium mark in program history.

• Entering the Buffalo bout, Fleming has played in a total of 95 contests as a Falcon. BGSU has a record of 69-26 in those 95 games, including a 38-15 ledger in MAC regular-season play, a 42-17 mark in all games (regular season and tournament) against conference foes and a 34-8 record at the Stroh Center.

• Four of those losses came against nationally-ranked opponents, including a game at Indiana (Dec. 22, 2023), when Fleming played just 70 seconds before leaving due to injury. Heading into that IU game, Fleming had led the 2023-24 team in scoring (16.7 ppg), rebounding (5.1 rpg for the 5-5 guard) and steals (2.7 spg).

• The list of BGSU's leading career scorers can be found on page 26 of these notes, while the list of quickest Falcons to 1,000 points is on page six.

FLEMING CONTINUES TO CLIMB CAREER CHARTS
• Lexi Fleming is in her fifth season with the Falcons, but has played the equivalent of roughly three seasons in a BG uniform. She has been moving up the BGSU career scoring list at a rapid rate since returning to the court in early December, and enters the UB game with 1,196 career points, ranking 25th in BGSU history. With an average of 12.59 points per game, Fleming is 10th on that BG career list.

• In her career, Fleming has now made 182 three-point field goals, good for eighth in school history. She is fourth on the BGSU career list for triples made per game (1.92). And, Fleming is 16th in school history in assists per game, with 2.75, and 17th in career free-throw percentage (79.0%).

• Additionally, she is near the top of the career steals lists. Fleming now has 204 steals as a Falcon, placing her eighth in BGSU history, and she is currently third in career steals per game (2.15).

VELASCO CONTINUES TO MOVE UP THE SCORING LIST AS WELL
• Amy Velasco is putting together a stellar senior season. Velasco has scored in double digits in 27 of the Falcons' 30 games to date, and is averaging a team-high 16.1 points per contest in 2024-25.

• Velasco has scored at least 20 points seven times this season, including in two of the last five games. She poured in a season-high 30 points in the Falcons' win over Toledo (Feb. 22), and followed that up with 22 points on Senior Night against Ohio.

• Velasco also had game-high totals of 28 points at Horizon League favorite Cleveland State and 24 points at nationally-ranked Ohio State.

• She recently moved into the top 20 on BGSU's career scoring list, and has continued to climb the leaderboard. With 1,521 career points, as mentioned earlier, Velasco currently ranks eighth on that list, just one point shy of seventh.

• Velasco has a career scoring average of 11.61 points per game, which currently places her 19th on that BGSU list. And, with a career total of 159 three-point field goals made, she is 15th on that BGSU chart.

• Velasco has a career free-throw rate of 83.5%, having made 324 of her 388 attempts from the stripe. She is ranked ninth on that BGSU career list.

AMY ALSO ACCUMULATES ASSISTS
• Amy Velasco, as mentioned, is now eighth on the BGSU career scoring list, and the senior also enjoys a lofty perch on the school's assists chart. She currently ranks sixth on that list, and now has 494 career dimes. Lindsay Austin (508 assists from 2000-04) holds down the fifth-place spot.

• Velasco currently ranks sixth in BGSU history in assists per game, with 3.77. If you were able to find the BGSU career scoring list elsewhere in these notes, you'll have no trouble finding the complete lists of both career assists and assists per game. Good luck to you!

DONAHUE = DEFENSE
• Freshman Johnea Donahue has stepped up her production at both ends of the floor in recent weeks. She moved into the starting lineup prior to the Akron game on Jan. 29, and the Falcons have gone 9-2 since then.

• Donahue has scored in double figures in six of those 11 games, but arguably has made her biggest contributions at the defensive end of the court. Donahue had a total of eight steals – just two shy of the school's single-game record – in the win over Toledo (Feb. 22), and currently leads the entire MAC in steals per game, with 2.41.

THE FALCONS – A QUICK OVERVIEW
• The Falcons are 18-12 on the season, and BGSU went 11-7 in MAC play, tying for fifth place in the 12-team league. The Orange and Brown ended the regular season on a two-game winning streak, with an 84-61 victory over Kent State last Wednesday (March 5) and an 87-67 win at Eastern Michigan Saturday (March 8).

• BGSU enters the Buffalo game having won seven of the last eight games and nine of the last 11 contests. The lone losses in that time came on the road, at league regular-season champion Ball State (Feb. 5) and in double-overtime vs. Northern Illinois (March 1).

• BGSU's non-league schedule included home wins over Southern Miss, St. Bonaventure, Xavier and Marquette, with a road win at Arkansas State and neutral-site victories vs. Stetson and Arkansas. The Falcons' five non-conference losses included road contests vs. two nationally-ranked teams (#13/12 West Virginia and #12/11 Ohio State).

• BGSU went 11-2 at home and 5-10 on the road, and the Falcons are 2-0 in neutral-site games this season to date. In MAC play, the Orange and Brown finished with records of 7-2 at the Stroh and 4-5 at hostile venues.

• Overall, the Falcons have a scoring margin of +3.8 and a rebounding margin of +3.9 this year. BG has outrebounded 18 of this season's first 30 opponents, with a rebounding margin of 10 or more in nine of those games to date. That includes a school-record five games with a rebounding margin of +18 or better.

• Four players are scoring in double digits for the Orange and Brown. Senior Amy Velasco leads the way with 16.1 ppg, and she also paces the Falcons with 4.9 assists per contest. Velasco has scored in double figures in 27 of 30 games this season, including a 30-point explosion in a win over Toledo, and she is second on the club with 52 three-point field goals made. She is shooting a BG- and MAC-best 43.3 percent from the arc, and Velasco also leads the entire conference in both free-throw pct. (92.9%) and minutes played (35.96 mpg). She has made 96 career starts and has 78 career double-digit scoring games.

• Sophomore Paige Kohler and fifth-year Falcon Lexi Fleming have 13.6 and 13.4 ppg, respectively. Kohler also has 4.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game, and has made a team-leading 74 three-point field goals. She has flirted with a triple-double on several occasions this season, and is third in the MAC in minutes (34.83 mpg) and fourth in the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.78).

• Fleming has made 50 triples in her 23 games to date, including six in the first quarter alone last Wednesday night (March 5), when she scored a school-record 21 points in the opening 10 minutes vs. KSU. Fleming has 3.2 assists and 2.1 steals per game to rank third and second, respectively, on the team. She has scored in double digits 17 times, including in each of the last seven contests, and averaged 23.0 ppg in last week's wins over KSU and EMU.

• Fifth-year collegian Erika Porter is averaging 10.5 ppg, and has a team-leading 5.6 rpg. Porter also leads the entire MAC in field-goal pct. (56.9%) after going a perfect 11-for-11 from the floor in last week's two wins. As mentioned, she is a lock to break the BGSU career record for field-goal accuracy.

• Freshmen Johnea Donahue and Lauren Gerken have 7.4 and 7.2 ppg, respectively. Donahue has scored in double digits in five of the last eight games, and leads the MAC with 2.41 steals per game, including a career-high eight vs. UT.

• Sophomores Taya Ellis and Keiryn McGuff are averaging 4.0 and 3.9 ppg, respectively. Ellis has 4.6 rpg on the season, and she leads BGSU and ranks third in the MAC with 1.00 blocks per game. McGuff has 3.6 rpg, while junior Kendal Moxey has 2.8 ppg and has shot 50% (30-for-60) from the floor.

• In MAC play, BGSU had amazing offensive balance, as Velasco (14.9 ppg), Kohler (14.7) and Fleming (14.6) all scored between 263 and 269 points in the 18 games. Porter had a team-best 5.4 rpg, while Velasco (4.8 apg), Kohler (3.9) and Fleming (3.3) all averaged over three assists per game vs. conference competition.

• Donahue and Fleming tied for fourth in the MAC in steals in conference games, while Ellis deadlocked for fourth in blocks. Kohler led the entire league in assist/turnover ratio (2.22), with Fleming and Velasco third and sixth, respectively, in that category. Velasco led in the league in free-throw pct. (96.5%; 55-for-57), and Porter was first in field-goal pct. (60.7%).

• The Falcons returned seven players who saw action on the 2023-24 team that went 16-15 overall and 10-8 in MAC play. BG won four of the last six regular-season games, and the Falcons advanced to national postseason play with a trip to the WNIT.

• BGSU's other returnees from last season are third-year Falcons Emily Siesel and Jasmine Fearne. Siesel has played in 27 games off the bench this winter, while Fearne is back after missing the entire '23-24 campaign due to injury. Fearne is fourth on the Falcons with 20 successful triples in 2024-25.

• The Falcons' seven newcomers include a pair of junior-college transfers in Moxey and Kristiana Kulackovska, along with five freshmen – Donahue, Gerken, Laila Harrison, Sofia Moschen and Taylor Wallace. Moschen joined the team in the first week of January.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE BULLS
• Buffalo is 24-6 overall, and the Bulls tied for second in MAC play with a 13-5 league ledger. UB has won five of the last seven games, including an 80-54 win over Western Michigan on Saturday (March 8).

• UB is 14-2 in home games and 10-4 on the road this season. In MAC play, the Bulls went 7-2 at home and 6-3 on the road.

• Chellia Watson leads the team – and the MAC – in scoring, with 20.3 ppg, with Kirsten Lewis-Williams scoring 13.6 ppg. Lani Cornfield has 10.6 ppg and leads UB in assists (5.7 apg) and steals (2.3 spg). The Bulls lead the MAC in scoring offense, scoring margin, field-goal pct. and assist/turnover ratio, and UB ranks second in scoring defense.

• Head coach Becky Burke welcomed back three starters from last season's team that finished 19-14 overall and 10-8 in the MAC.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead Buffalo, 28-26, in the all-time series, but the Bulls have won the last four meetings. UB picked up a 70-60 win at the Stroh Center in the teams' lone regular-season meeting this year (Jan. 8, 2025). Last season, the Bulls' three wins over the Falcons included a 70-64 triumph in the quarterfinal round of the MAC Tournament (March 13, 2024). BGSU's last series win was a 64-61 decision in Western New York two years ago (Jan. 25, 2023).

• BGSU is 12-12 at home, 14-13 on the road and 2-1 in neutral-site meetings with UB through the years. Additional series information can be found elsewhere in these very notes.

DOWN THE ROAD
• The BGSU-UB winner remains in Cleveland for Friday's (March 14) MAC Tournament semifinal round, and will face either Toledo or Central Michigan in that day's second game, beginning at approximately 12:30 p.m.

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.