JONESBORO, Ark. – The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team withstood an early three-point barrage by Arkansas State University, and the Falcons rallied back for a thrilling 75-73 win on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 8). The game, part of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge, was held at First National Bank Arena.

Freshman Johnea Donahue had the first double-double of her young career for the Falcons (12-11 [5-6 Mid-American Conference]), with career-high totals in both points and rebounds. Donahue had 19 points and 10 boards, going 8-of-9 from the field in the win.

Senior Amy Velasco had 15 points and eight assists, while sophomore Paige Kohler scored 14 points and added five rebounds.

BGSU's win snapped an 11-game winning streak dating to late December for the Red Wolves (15-8 [11-1 Sun Belt Conference]).

A-State went 5-of-6 from three-point range to begin the game, taking a 15-5 lead with less than four minutes gone and forcing an early BGSU timeout. After going 7-of-13 from the arc in the first quarter, the Red Wolves were just 1-of-19 over the next two periods.

BGSU had a dominant 49-28 rebounding lead, with Erika Porter pulling down 11 boards to go along with her seven points. Fellow fifth-year collegiate Lexi Fleming had a season-high eight rebound along with six points and seven assists.

Sophomores Taya Ellis and Keiryn McGuff combined for 11 points and 10 rebounds in the victory. McGuff had seven points and four boards, while Ellis scored four points and also had six rebounds and a pair of assists.

BGSU had 22 assists on 28 field goals. The Falcons shot over 50 percent (51.9%; 28-of-54) from the field for the game, making 9-of-21 shots (42.9%) from long distance.

The Red Wolves went 27-of-71 (38.0%) overall and 11-of-39 (28.2%) from the arc. Crislyn Rose had a tremendous game for the hosts, with her 29 points including 16 in the fourth quarter alone. But, Rose was the only A-State player to score in double digits.

FIRST QUARTER
• Crislyn Rose set the tone for the game's first few minutes, hitting a three-pointer almost immediately after the game started. Lexi Fleming's right-side jumper got the Falcons on the scoreboard in the opening minute, but Annaliese Griffin and Shaunae Brown each made three-point tries for a 9-2 A-State lead.
• Amy Velasco took a Fleming handoff and knocked down a long-range attempt, but after a BGSU turnover in the backcourt, Kennedie Montue scored from the arc. When Montue hit a straightaway trey moments later, the Red Wolves had a 15-5 lead, and the Falcons used a timeout with 6:42 still remaining in the quarter. At that point in the contest, A-State was 5-for-6 from the arc.
• Velasco found Paige Kohler for a left-wing triple, and the sophomore knocked down another long-range try to cut the deficit to four. Fleming got a long rebound and fired the ball ahead to Johnea Donahue for a run-out layup that made it a 15-13 game, but Brown's corner three snapped BGSU's 8-0 run.
• But, BG broke the press and Taya Ellis found Donahue ahead of the pack for another layup. Kohler blew past her would-be defender for a layup, and Emily Siesel's pass resulted in a Velasco triple from the top of the arc, tying the game at 20-20. Another Montue three-pointer, however, capped a quick 5-0 run that gave A-State a 25-20 lead after one period.

SECOND QUARTER
• Velasco drove and kicked the ball out to Donahue for a left-wing three-pointer, and after a Fleming steal, Erika Porter's pass resulted in another Donahue run-out that tied the game at 25-all. Then, Siesel's three-pointer gave the Falcons their second 8-0 run of the game, along with a 28-25 lead. The hosts sandwiched two layups around a BG free throw, tying the game once again, and a layup gave A-State a 32-29 advantage moments later.
• But, after that 7-1 run by the Red Wolves, the Falcons would score the final nine points of the half. An offensive rebound by Ellis resulted in a driving layup by Donahue, who finished through contact, and Ellis then scored back-to-back buckets for a 35-32 BGSU lead. With 40 seconds to go in the half, Fleming found Keiryn McGuff for a three-pointer that gave the Falcons a six-point lead at the half.

THIRD QUARTER
• Velasco began the third-period scoring, as she looked to make a pass to a teammate cutting along the baseline. Finding the passing route blocked, Velasco simply turned around, found herself open and hit a jumper. Then, Velasco and Kohler worked a 2-on-1 break to perfection, with Velasco returning Kohler's pass to give the sophomore a wide-open layup. The Falcons had a 13-0 run and a 42-32 lead.
• A free throw snapped that run, and the hosts got a quick steal and layup, but Fleming found Donahue for a bucket, and Fleming then curled off a screen, took a Kohler pass and made a foul-line jumper for a 47-36 lead midway through the period.
• Fleming found McGuff for a layup as BGSU broke the press, and after Rose hit a pair of shots, McGuff drove and scored again. Then, after a sequence that saw Fleming get a deflection and both Porter and McGuff battle for the ball, the Falcons got a Porter layup for a nine-point lead, and a Porter transition layup gave BGSU a 55-44 lead. But, the Red Wolves cut the lead to seven points as Zyion Shannon hit a three-pointer late in the period.

FOURTH QUARTER
• Donahue grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on a sweet up-and-under move, and the freshman's free throw made it a 10-point game. Velasco's foul-line jumper gave the Falcons a 60-48 lead, the largest of the contest at that point, and after a Nissa Sam-Grant layup for the hosts, the BG lead reached 13 points when Kohler took a Velasco pass and hit a three-pointer from in front of her team's bench. The Red Wolves, trailing by a 63-50 score, took a timeout with 7:01 to go.
• Out of the timeout, A-State – and Rose in particular – began to rally. Rose put together her own personal 7-0 run in under a minute. After a three-point play, a trip to the stripe and a pull-up jumper, the Falcons' lead was down to six with over six minutes remaining.
• Kohler drove and kicked the ball to Donahue for a right-side three-pointer, and a Kohler free throw out of the 4:40 media timeout restored the Falcons' double-digit lead, 67-57, for the moment.
• But, Rose dribbled around and hit a pull-up jumper, and after a BG turnover, her three-pointer made it a 67-62 game with 3:48 to go. The Falcons were whistled for an offensive foul, and Brown's three-pointer cut the BG lead to just two points with 2:50 remaining. After a turnover, Wynter Rogers was fouled and went to the line with a chance to tie the game. She missed her first free-throw try, but made the second with 2:35 on the clock.
• Porter split a pair of free throws, but Rose got a shot to go, tying the game at 68-68 with 2:17 remaining. Then, with 1:22 left, a pull-up jumper by Rose gave the Red Wolves the lead.
• BGSU quickly headed downcourt and Fleming was fouled. She made both shots to tie the game at the 1:10 mark. A-State missed a long three-point try, but the ball went out of bounds with the hosts maintaining possession with 44.6 seconds left.
• But, Donahue came up with a steal and the Falcons used a timeout as the BG soph was pressured near the sideline at midcourt. After the timeout, Velasco hit a pull-up jumper with 22.3 seconds left, prompting an A-State timeout.
• The Red Wolves missed a quick corner three-point attempt, with Porter grabbing the rebound and the Falcons using a timeout. The ensuing inbounds pass went to Velasco, who was quickly fouled and hit two tosses for a 74-70 lead with 15.9 seconds remaining.
• But, Griffin hit a long three-point try with 8.8 seconds to go. After a BG timeout, the Falcons again inbounded the ball to Velasco, who was fouled immediately. She split her two free-throw tries to put the Falcons up by two points with 7.9 seconds left.
• After an A-State timeout, Rose drove toward the basket, but her contested layup was off the mark. Ellis grabbed the rebound as the final seconds ticked away.

UP NEXT
• BGSU will play three of the next four games at home. The Falcons will face Central Michigan next Saturday, Feb. 15. That game will begin at 2:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center, and will be BGSU's Alumni Day, with many former Falcon greats expected to be on hand.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will head to Kalamazoo to meet Western Michigan (Feb. 19), before returning to Northwest Ohio to end the month with home contests against Toledo (Feb. 22) and Ohio (Feb. 26).

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Sat., Feb. 15 | CENTRAL MICHIGAN | 2:00 p.m.
Wed., Feb. 19 | at Western Michigan | 7:00 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 22 | TOLEDO | 7:00 p.m.
Wed., Feb. 26 | OHIO | 7:00 p.m.
Sat., March 1 | at Northern Illinois | 2:00 p.m.

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.