DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Erika Porter's layup with eight seconds remaining lifted the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team to a 79-78 win over the University of Arkansas Saturday afternoon (Nov. 30). The game, part of the Daytona Beach Classic, was held at the Ocean Center.

Sophomore Paige Kohler made seven three-point field goals for the Falcons (4-4), falling just one triple shy of the school record. Kohler, who led BGSU with 25 points, was a perfect 6-of-6 from the arc over the last three quarters and went 7-for-9 from long distance on the day.

Porter scored 18 points, while senior Amy Velasco added 17, with each player making a go-ahead layup late in the contest. The game featured nine lead changes, including four in the final 30 seconds of the fourth quarter.

Izzy Higginbottom led the Razorbacks (4-5) with 26 points, with Jenna Lawrence adding 21 points and a game-high five blocked shots.

BGSU led for just 13 seconds of the game's first 34 minutes, and Arkansas led by as many as 14 points early in the third quarter. But, the Falcons took the lead on a Kohler trey with 5:55 remaining in the game, and after the lead changed hands several times, a long three-pointer by redshirt sophomore Jasmine Fearne gave the Orange and Brown a four-point advantage, 74-70, with 2:42 to go.

Then, however, neither team scored until 1:12 remained, when Kiki Smith knocked down a three-point try. The Razorbacks got a stop, and Higginbottom made a pair of free throws with 30 seconds to go, giving her team a 75-74 lead.

After BGSU used a timeout, Velasco drove and converted an 'and-one' layup, sinking the free throw for a 77-75 BG lead with 26 seconds on the clock. The Hogs took time, and the resulting possession saw Lawrence hit her fifth three-pointer of the game to put her team back up by a point.

The Falcons called time with 12 seconds remaining, and Fearne got the ball inside to Porter for a layup with eight seconds left. It was the Razorbacks' turn to use a timeout, and on the ensuing play, a Lawrence three-point attempt was off the mark, and freshman Lauren Gerken grabbed the rebound as the final buzzer sounded.

The Falcons shot 47.1 percent from the floor in the win, including an 18-of-29 (62.1%) effort in the second half. BGSU went 7-for-10 from three-point range in the second half, and shot 47.6% (10-of-21) from long range on the day.

Arkansas was 27-of-56 overall (48.2%) and 11-of-25 (44.0%) from the arc.

BGSU held a dominant 41-23 rebounding advantage, and the Falcons had 16 offensive boards while holding the Razorbacks to just three.

In addition to her team-high 25 points, Kohler had seven rebounds, while Porter had a game-high nine boards to go along with her 18 points.

Velasco had nine assists vs. Arkansas, after dishing out 10 in Friday's (Nov. 29) win over Stetson.

Gerken had seven points and six boards, playing all 40 minutes of the win, while Kendal Moxey scored six points.

Fearne had three points, and also had career-best totals of three rebounds and four assists. She was involved in the scoring of four of BGSU's seven fourth-quarter buckets, with her aforementioned three-pointer and three assists during the final 10 minutes.

FIRST QUARTER
• The Falcons got off to a slow start, with three turnovers on the first five possessions. Erika Porter made a layup on BG's second possession of the game, but a pair of Carly Keats buckets and a Vera Ojenuwa layup gave the Razorbacks an early 6-2 lead.
• In a harbinger of things to come, Paige Kohler drilled a three-point try, but UA's Jenna Lawrence responded in kind. That duo would combine to make 12 long-range shots in the game.
• After a Porter putback, Kiki Smith hit a triple for a 12-7 Arkansas lead. The Falcons then went on an 8-2 run, getting a Velasco layup followed by three Porter hoops in a span of just 44 seconds. The last layup gave Porter 10 points and her team a 15-14 lead.
• But, that lead would last only 13 seconds, as a Keats three-pointer began a 10-2 Arkansas run to end the period. Velasco's driving layup was BG's only bucket in the final 3:13, and a Lawrence jumper with 13 seconds on the clock gave the Hogs a 24-17 lead after one quarter.
• Porter, as mentioned, had 10 points in the first period, on perfect 5-for-5 shooting.

SECOND QUARTER
• Putbacks by Laila Harrison and Porter kept the Falcons' deficit in single digits for the first few minutes of the quarter, but two Higginbottom free throws and a Lawrence triple gave Arkansas a 33-21 advantage heading into the media timeout.
• Lawrence's bucket had been her team's first field goal in nearly three minutes, but the Falcons went over five minutes without a point, missing 11 consecutive shots before Kohler took a Velasco pass and knocked down a three-pointer with 2:49 to go before halftime.
• That shot was part of a torrid minute of play for Kohler, who hit a layup, then got another Velasco pass and connected from the arc. The soph had eight points in under a minute of game time, but the Razorbacks continued to have answers at the other end of the court, and a Lawrence trey was followed by two more Higginbottom shots at the stripe.
• Lauren Gerken made a driving layup with 17 seconds to go, but Higginbottom's layup bounced around the rim and dropped through the hoop as the clock hit zero, giving the Hogs a 43-31 lead.

THIRD QUARTER
• Kohler opened the second half by scoring on a baseline drive, but Higginbottom scored five quick points, with her three-point play giving the Hogs a 14-point lead, the largest of the game, with just a minute gone in the period.
• Trailing by that 48-34 score, however, the Falcons began clawing back. Velasco fed Kohler for a shot from the top of the arc, and the senior then drove and hit a pull-up jumper. Keats answered with a layup, but Velasco took a Gerken pass and connected from long distance, making it a 50-42 game.
• One minute later, Velasco's inbounds pass resulted in another Kohler trey. Lawrence answered with a long-distance make, but Harrison's entry pass resulted in a Kendal Moxey layup that put the Falcons within six points.
• The Falcons went 6-for-8 (including 3-for-3 from long range) to begin the third quarter.
• After Pinja Paananen split a pair of shots at the line, Velasco's driving layup cut the BG deficit to five points. Then, she fed a cutting Gerken to make it a 54-51 game with 3:43 left in the quarter. Paananen hit a long two-pointer, but Gerken found Moxey for a layup.
• But, Higginbottom hit a jumper, then after a BG turnover, converted a three-point play to give her team a 61-53 lead. Kohler and Moxey's inside-out game resulted in a Kohler triple from in front of the BG bench, and Jasmine Fearne got the ball inside to Moxey for a layup that cut the margin to three points after three quarters.
• BGSU went 11-of-15 (73.3%) from the field in the third quarter, including a 4-for-5 effort from long distance.

FOURTH QUARTER
• Velasco kicked the ball out to Gerken for a three-pointer that tied the game and began a wild fourth quarter. The Hogs surged back in front, with Ojenuwa's three-pointer making it a 66-62 game, but Velasco made a pair of shots at the stripe, and Fearne's 'extra pass' resulted in Kohler's seventh three-pointer of the afternoon. BGSU had a 67-66 lead with 5:55 to go, and Porter's layup put the Falcons up by three as Arkansas used a timeout.
• Both teams came up empty on the next two possessions, before a Lawrence layup with 4:02 on the clock. The Falcons missed a shot, and Higginbottom was fouled on a drive and made both shots to put her team in front, 70-69.
• But, Fearne's entry pass resulted in a Porter layup to give BG the lead once again. Harrison blocked Smith's layup attempt on the ensuing possession, with Fearne grabbing the rebound, and at the other end of the court, Fearne took a Velasco pass and hit a shot from well beyond the three-point line. BGSU's lead was 74-70 with 2:42 remaining.
• Aided by a Porter block, the Falcons forced a shot-clock violation. BG would get another stop, but could not add to the lead, and Smith's three-pointer cut the Falcons' lead to a single point with 1:12 left.
• A BG layup was no good, and Higginbottom made a pair of free throws with 30 seconds left to give the Hogs a 75-74 lead and set the stage for the frenetic finish.
• Velasco's driving layup gave BG the lead with 26 seconds on the clock, but Lawrence countered with a three-pointer. After BG's final timeout of the game, Kohler inbounded the ball just over midcourt, throwing a pass to Fearne in the corner. Fearne immediately tossed the ball inside to Porter, who whirled around her defender and scored what proved to be the game's final points with eight seconds to go.
• The Falcons were not out of the woods just yet, but when Lawrence's last-second three-point try was off the mark and Gerken corralled the rebound, the horn sounded and the Orange and Brown had secured the dramatic victory.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons return home to face Xavier next Saturday (Dec. 7), with that contest set for a 7:00 p.m. tip at the Stroh Center.
• After playing eight November games, BGSU has just three contests on the December schedule. Following the Xavier game, the Falcons will be idle until Marquette comes to the Stroh on Wednesday, Dec. 18.

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.