BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team got contributions from the entire active roster en route to setting a program record on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 16). The Falcons rolled along to a 92-41 win over St. Bonaventure University inside the Stroh Center.

For the Falcons (2-2), the 51-point margin of victory was the largest against an NCAA Division-I opponent in program history.

BGSU used lights-out shooting to build a double-digit lead in the first quarter, then utilized lock-down defense to blow the game wide open in the third.

Senior Amy Velasco and sophomore Paige Kohler scored 22 and 19 points, respectively, for the Falcons, with four other players scoring at least nine points.

Junior Kendal Moxey had 11 points on perfect 5-for-5 shooting, while sophomore Taya Ellis, freshman Lauren Gerken and fifth-year collegian Erika Porter scored nine points each. Ellis had a game-high 12 rebounds to tie her four-day-old career record, while Gerken was a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range.

BGSU shot 61.8 percent from the floor, going 34-of-55 in the win, and the Falcons shot 41.7% from the arc and 88.9% from the free-throw line.

The Falcons held a 44-25 lead at the half. After the Bonnies scored five of first seven points of the third quarter, BGSU proceeded to go on a 46-11 run to end the game.

That run began with a 23-0 surge, as the Falcons held Bona scoreless for seven minutes and five seconds.

After the visitors snapped that run with a hoop in the final minute of the third quarter, the Falcons then scored the next 18 points, for a 41-2 run over a 13-minute stretch of game time. When the proverbial smoke had cleared, the Falcons led, 87-32, with 4:12 to go. 

For the Bonnies (1-2), Hannah Richardson had nine points, while Dani Haskell added seven.

NOTE OF THE DAY
• As mentioned, Saturday's 51-point margin of victory was the largest against an NCAA Division-I opponent in program history, and it is tied for the fourth-largest margin against all opponents.
BGSU RECORD BOOK: LARGEST MARGIN OF VICTORY
1.  58   vs. Taylor            94-36     12/5/81
2.  52   vs. Ohio Northern     77-25     2/11/75
    52   vs. Notre Dame Coll. 100-48    12/21/21
4.  51   vs. St. Bonaventure   92-41    11/16/24
    51   vs. Wayne State       77-26     1973-74
6.  50   On four occasions                      

Saturday's 51-point win is...

🏀 Tied for the fourth-largest victory in program history
🏀 BGSU's biggest margin vs. a Division-I team in program history#T🔵GETHER x #AyZiggy pic.twitter.com/2kEMlnIf4V

— BGSU Women's Basketball (@BGSUWBB) November 16, 2024

ALSO WORTH NOTING
• The Falcons went 34-of-55 from the field on Saturday. BGSU's 61.8% field-goal percentage was the team's best in a game in 18 years, and was the sixth-highest single-game success rate in program history.
BGSU RECORD BOOK: FIELD-GOAL PCT., GAME
1.  vs. Ohio, 2/22/89                  .667 (36-54)
2.  vs. Ohio Northern, 2/4/81          .639 (39-61)
3.  vs. Eastern Michigan, 1/10/98      .630 (34-54)
4.  vs. Buffalo, 1/8/00                .625 (30-48)
5.  vs. Fairleigh Dickinson, 11/18/06  .623 (33-53)
6.  vs. St. Bonaventure, 11/16/24      .618 (34-55)
7.  vs. Michigan State, 12/6/97        .614 (35-57)
8.  vs. Temple, 11/24/06               .612 (30-49)

FINAL NOTE (FOR NOW): RUNNING WITH THE FALCONS
• BGSU, as mentioned (but it's worth mentioning again), scored 23-straight points in the third period, holding Bona scoreless for a 7:05 stretch. After the visitors got a bucket to end that stretch, the Falcons scored the final two points of the period, then the first 16 of the fourth.
• In all, BG put together a 41-2 run over a span of 13:30.

FIRST QUARTER
• The Falcons shot 75 percent from the field in the opening quarter, going 12-of-16 to open up a 29-15 lead after 10 minutes.
• Amy Velasco hit a floater on the game's first possession, and after Dani Haskell answered with a bucket for the visitors, the Falcons would score the game's next eight points. Erika Porter's layup gave BG the lead for good, and after Velasco drew an offensive foul on the Bonnies, a Taya Ellis layup was followed by Paige Kohler's floater. Velasco's driving layup made it a 10-2 game.
• The visitors got as close as four points, sandwiching a three-point play and a Haskell triple around a Kendal Moxey layup. It was still a four-point game when Velasco found Moxey for a bucket and a 16-10 lead. Moxey scored six-straight BG points during that stretch.
• BGSU ended the period on a 9-3 run, as Ellis hit another layup, then Kohler found Lauren Gerken for a three-pointer. SBU's Hannah Richardson answered with a triple, but Velasco spotted Kohler for a corner three, and Ellis kicked the ball out to Gerken for the freshman's second trey of the quarter.
• Moxey and Gerken each scored six points in the opening quarter, with that duo combining to go 5-for-5 from the floor. Velasco also had six points, along with three assists in the first period.

SECOND QUARTER
• The Bonnies scored six of the first eight points of the second quarter, with a Velasco layup BG's only bucket in the first three-plus minutes. But, with the lead down to 10 points, Porter powered her way down low for a hoop, and Kohler grabbed a defensive rebound and went all the way downcourt for a layup and a 35-21 lead.
• Velasco's jumper rolled around the rim and dropped through the hoop, and Kohler's free throws gave the Falcons an 8-0 run and a 39-21 lead.
• After a Haskell bucket, Johnea Donahue found Kohler on the break for an and-one layup, with the three-point play putting BG up by 19. Macy Smith sank a pair of free-throw tries, but Velasco was fouled and hit both shots in the final minute of play, giving the Falcons a 44-25 lead at the break.
 

Gallery: (11-16-2024) 111624 wbk v Bona - Drake Harlett

THIRD QUARTER
• For the second consecutive quarter, BGSU hit only one field goal in the first three-plus minutes. Isabellah Middleton's layup and Mackenzie Pettinelli's three-pointer cut the Falcons' lead to 16 with 7:32 left in the period. But, the Bonnies would not score again for more than seven minutes.
• The Falcons' epic 23-0 run actually started somewhat slowly, as BGSU scored just five points – a Gerken triple and a Velasco reverse layup – in a three-and-a-half-minute span. But, BGSU then exploded for 18 points in just over three minutes.
• Velasco knocked down a three-point try, and Kohler grabbed a defensive board and went all the way to the other end for a layup. The Bonnies used a timeout, but when play resumed, Donahue immediately stole a pass and sailed in for a layup and a 58-30 lead.
• Velasco threw the ball inside to Moxey for a layup, then took a pass from Kohler and drained a three-point try. Velasco drove into the paint and lobbed the ball to Moxey for an and-one layup, and Donahue fed Kohler for a transition triple and a 69-30 advantage.
• The Bonnies went 0-for-11 with a pair of turnovers during that seven-minute span before Richardson's jumper with 28 seconds on the clock finally snapped the 23-point run. Velasco had an answer, as she was fouled and made a pair of shots at the line with 5.8 seconds to go, giving the hosts a 71-32 lead.
• Velasco outscored the Bonnies all by herself in the period, scoring 10 points as BG had 27 points to SBU's seven in the third quarter. For the second time in three periods, the Falcons shot better than 70% (10-of-14, 71.4%) in the quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER
• After scoring the final two points (and 25 of the final 27 points) of the third quarter, BGSU scored the first 16 of the fourth.
• Ellis hit two free throws on the opening possession to push the lead above 41 points, and Laila Harrison drove and scored. Ellis put back a missed shot as part of a three-point play, and a reverse layup by Kristiana Kulackovska gave the Falcons an 80-32 lead.
• Porter hit a pair of shots at the line, and Emily Siesel stole the ball from Aurore Eyango and sailed in for a layup. When Harrison threw the ball inside to Porter for a layup and a three-point play, BGSU had an 87-32 advantage midway through the period.
• Finally, the visitors got a bucket, by Eyango with 4:12 remaining. But Kulackovska hit a cutting Harrison for a layup, and Harrison then whipped the ball out to Taylor Wallace for a three-pointer in Wallace's first collegiate game. That triple gave BGSU a 56-point lead before the Bonnies scored the final five points of the afternoon.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons' next four games all will be away from home, with the next two contests coming against nationally-ranked opponents. BGSU begins that stretch with a Tuesday (Nov. 19) game at #15/13 West Virginia. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will head to Columbus next weekend, for a Sunday (Nov. 24) matchup with #12/12 Ohio State. BGSU's November slate concludes with a pair of games in Florida, at the Daytona Beach Classic, where the Falcons will face Stetson (Nov. 29) and Arkansas (Dec. 30).

FOR MORE INFORMATION...
• For more information on all things BGSU women's basketball, follow the Falcons on Facebook (@BGWBB), Twitter/X (@BGSU_Athletics and @BGSUWBB) and Instagram (@bgsuwbb), as well as right here at BGSUFalcons.com.