CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland State University withstood an early three-point barrage by the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, and the Vikings went on to a 75-68 win Tuesday night (Nov. 12) at the Wolstein Center.

Senior Amy Velasco had 28 points for the Falcons (1-2), with sophomores Paige Kohler and Taya Ellis joining Velasco in double digits. In front of a large contingent of fans, Kohler – a native of nearby Olmsted Falls – had 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Kohler's rebound and assist totals fell just one shy of her career bests.

Ellis had 10 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, for the first double-double of her collegiate career.

The Vikings (2-1), the preseason Horizon League favorites, got balanced scoring in the win. Sara Guerreiro had 19 points, with Jordana Reisma adding 17, Mickayla Perdue 16 and Destiny Leo 12.

Guerreiro led the hosts in rebounds and assists as well as points, with nine boards and five assists. Reisma had eight rebounds in the contest.

BGSU had a 44-37 rebounding advantage, and the Falcons had 19 offensive rebounds in the game. But, after going 10-for-23 from the field (and 5-of-6 from three-point range) in the first quarter, the Falcons were held to a 15-of-52 (28.8%) success rate.

Cleveland State went 9-of-16 from the floor in the third quarter, and the hosts took the lead for the first time on a Colbi Maples layup midway through that period.

FIRST QUARTER
• The Falcons got off to a red-hot start. Amy Velasco fed Paige Kohler for a three-point field goal on the game's first possession, and that duo teamed up again with under two minutes gone, giving BG a 6-2 lead.
• Johnea Donahue came up with an offensive rebound and hit a nifty floater in traffic, and Erika Porter worked around her defender and hit a layup for a 10-6 lead.
• That Porter hoop began a 10-0 run for the Orange and Brown. Kohler returned the favor to Velasco, finding the senior for a triple, and Lauren Gerken tapped an offensive rebound out to Kohler for the sophomore's third trey of the game. When Donahue went to the floor for a steal and flipped the ball to sophomore Taya Ellis, Ellis found Velasco ahead of the pack for an 18-6 lead.
• The Vikings finally stopped the run, but Velasco grabbed a defensive rebound, fired a pass to Kohler, took a return pass and hit a trailing three. CSU threw the ball away, and Velasco hit a driving layup for a 23-8 lead with one minute left in the period. 
• Porter muscled her way inside for a layup, then blocked a CSU shot as the buzzer sounded, and the Falcons had a 25-10 lead after 10 minutes.

SECOND QUARTER
• The Vikes were called for an offensive foul on the opening possession of the quarter, and Kristiana Kulackovska found Porter for a layup and a 27-10 lead. But, the preseason Horizon League favorites began to rally.
• The hosts went on a 7-0 run, capped by a Colbi Maples three-pointer with a defender's hand in her face that cut the BG lead to 27-17. Ellis hit a pair of free throws, but Jordana Reisma's three-point play made it a nine-point game.
• Velasco drove and spun a shot off glass and through the hoop, then was fouled on a shot and sank both shots for a 33-22 lead.
• Donahue found Kohler for a three-pointer, then spotted Velasco for a long-range make and a 39-26 lead. CSU responded with a pair of layups, but Velasco took a Kohler pass after a Gerken offensive rebound, and Velasco's ensuing trey gave her 20 points and her team a 42-30 lead. A pair of free throws cut that lead to 10 points at the break.

THIRD QUARTER
• The Vikings scored the first five points of the period, with a runout making it a five-point game. After a BGSU timeout, Donahue drove and put a shot off glass and in with the shot clock winding down, giving the Falcons a 44-37 lead.
• But, Destiny Leo hit a three-pointer, and after Velasco made a pair of shots at the stripe, Leo connected from the arc again, cutting the BG lead to a single point. The Vikings got a stop, and out of the media timeout, Sara Guerreiro drove and hit a layup to give CSU the lead, 47-46, for the first time.
• Ellis hit a short-corner jumper, but Leo knocked down a long triple try to put the hosts up by four, 52-48. Mickayla Perdue hit a layup before Ellis had a nice drive for a layup, and Kohler cut from right to left across the paint and hit an and-one runner. The free throw cut the CSU lead to three, 56-53, after three quarters.

FOURTH QUARTER
• The Vikings were called for charges on their first two possessions of the quarter, with Velasco and Kohler each taking a charge. But, BG could not convert at the other end, and Guerreiro scored inside for a five-point CSU lead.
• Velasco cut into the lane and hit a floater, but a Reisma putback and a Guerreiro driving layup gave the Vikings a 62-55 lead. But, Ellis hit a foul-line jumper, and Velasco came downcourt, rose and hit another shot to cut the deficit to three points.
• BG got a pair of stops, but could not cut into the deficit any further, and a pair of free throws with 2:23 to go gave CSU a 64-59 lead. After a turnover, another charity toss made it a six-point game.
• Then, after BGSU missed a three-point try, the Vikings used nearly all of the shot clock before Perdue – who was 0-for-6 from the arc to that point – hit a three-pointer that gave the hosts a nine-point advantage with 1:19 to go.
• BGSU got yet another bucket from Velasco, and Jasmine Fearne's three-pointer got the Falcons within five points with 37.2 seconds on the clock. But, CSU made free throws down the stretch to keep the visitors from getting any closer.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons return to the Stroh Center this weekend, hosting St. Bonaventure on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 16). That contest tips at 12:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.

• The, BGSU's next four games all will be away from home. The Falcons will hit the road to play West Virginia (Nov. 19) and Ohio State (Nov. 24) before traveling to Florida for the Daytona Beach Classic. BG will meet Stetson (Nov. 29) and Arkansas (Dec. 30) in that tournament.

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.