TOLEDO, Ohio – Lexi Fleming scored a game-high 23 points, but the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team fell, 80-68, to the University of Toledo on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 25). This season's first 'Battle of I-75' was held at Savage Arena.

Fleming went 9-of-13 from the field for the Falcons (9-10, 3-5 Mid-American Conference) en route to her 23-point total. Amy Velasco had 18 points, going a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line, while Erika Porter had 10 points to round out BGSU's double-digit scorers.

Sophomores Taya Ellis and Paige Kohler scored eight and seven points, respectively.

Kendall Carruthers had 21 points and Khera Goss 20 for the Rockets (13-5, 6-2 MAC), who shot 54.4 percent from the field and 56.4% from the three-point line on the afternoon. BGSU shot an even 50% from the floor.

The Falcons used a 10-0 run to take a 29-19 lead midway the second quarter, but the Rockets whittled that lead in half by halftime, then scored five quick points to tie the game early in the third period.

Velasco's pull-up jumper gave BG the lead once again, but the hosts then used a 7-0 run to take the lead for good. Leading by seven points after three quarters, UT got a pair of free throws, then a layup, to extend the lead into double figures early in the fourth, and the Falcons could not erase the deficit.
 

Gallery: (1-25-2025) 012525 wbk at Toledo - Drake Harlett

FIRST QUARTER
• The Rockets took an early 4-0 lead before Lexi Fleming found Erika Porter for a reverse layup just over two minutes into the contest. Amy Velasco was fouled and made a pair of free-throw tries – she was perfect in 10 attempts at the stripe on the afternoon – and after the Falcons forced a shot-clock violation, Porter's bounce pass resulted in an open layup for a cutting Fleming, tying the game at 6-6.
• Moments later, another Porter bounce pass resulted in another Fleming layup, and Fleming then hit a step-back three-pointer, giving the Falcons an 11-8 lead. Cadence Dykstra answered with a triple for the hosts, and a Khera Goss layup put the Rockets back up by two.
• Out of the media timeout, Paige Kohler made a driving layup, and Porter stole the ball from Dykstra and fired a long pass to Keiryn McGuff for an open layup and a 15-13 Falcon lead. UT responded with the next four points, but Velasco lobbed the ball inside to Taya Ellis for a layup, then hit a pair of free throws with just 3.8 seconds on the clock to give the visitors a 19-17 lead.

SECOND QUARTER
• Porter made an easy layup after her would-be defender flopped backward and landed on the ground in an attempt to draw a foul, giving the Falcons a 21-19 lead. Then, Porter worked her defender down in the paint, made a spin move and scored again. Kohler stole a pass, and the possession ended with Ellis putting a teammate's missed shot back up and in.
• A Velasco inbounds pass found Fleming for a short-corner jumper, and Fleming then stole a Dykstra pass and sailed in for a layup, a 10-0 BG run and a 29-19 Falcon lead.
• Ella Weaver's three-pointer snapped that run, but Ellis hit a layup, then blocked a Sammi Mikonowicz shot with just under a minute to play. BGSU did not score on that possession, but the Falcons got another stop as the half ended, taking a 32-27 lead into the half. 

THIRD QUARTER
• The Rockets got off to a quick start, taking advantage of a pair of BG turnovers. A Mikonowicz layup was followed by a Nan Garcia three-pointer that tied the game less than a minute into the quarter.
• Fleming knocked down a step-back three with the shot clock winding down, but after a Falcon defender fell down, Goss hit a triple to tie the game once again, 35-35. Velasco hit a pull-up jumper from the foul line extended, giving BG the lead, but a pair of offensive rebounds for the hosts led to a Goss layup, and Destiny Robinson's three-pointer gave UT the lead, 40-37, midway through the quarter.
• A Rocket layup gave the hosts a 7-0 run before Fleming hit a pair of free throws coming out of the media timeout. BG was within three points, but Jessica Cook's layup was followed by a turnover and a Kendall Carruthers bucket that made it a 46-39 game.
• Velasco got an offensive rebound was fouled and made both shots, and Ellis got to the line and hit a pair. Fleming cut along the baseline, took a pass from Kohler and hit a back-door layup, but Faith Fedd-Robinson scored inside in the final minute of the period to give UT a 52-45 lead.

FOURTH QUARTER
• UT got two free throws to begin the final quarter, and after a BG turnover, a Goss layup put the home team's lead into double digits for the first time. Kohler made a driving layup, but the Rockets answered with an easy layup, Kohler scored again, taking a Fleming pass and hitting a deep, straightaway three. But again, UT had an answer, as a Carruthers triple gave the home side a 61-50 lead.
• Layups by Cook and Mikonowicz made it a 65-51 lead with 6:45 to go, and BGSU could not draw any closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
• The Falcon defense forced over-and-back violations on two-straight possessions, and nearly forced a third consecutive turnover on UT's next possession, but it was not enough.

UP NEXT
• BGSU returns to the Stroh for a midweek MAC matchup, ending the month of January with a Wednesday (Jan. 29) contest vs. Akron, beginning at 7:00 p.m.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will begin February with a game at Central Michigan on Saturday, Feb. 1. That 1:00 p.m. matchup at McGuirk Arena is the first of three-straight road games.

NEXT FIVE GAMES (all times Eastern)
Wed., Jan. 29 | AKRON | 7:00 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 1 | at Central Michigan | 1:00 p.m.
Wed., Feb. 5 | at Ball State | 6:30 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 8 | at Arkansas State (MAC-Sun Belt Challenge) | 3:00 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 15 | CENTRAL MICHIGAN | 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.