SATURDAY, MARCH 1  |  2:00 P.M. ET  |  NIU CONVOCATION CENTER  |  DeKALB, ILL.

JUMP BALL
• The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team puts a five-game winning streak on the line Saturday afternoon (March 1). Head coach Fred Chmiel and the Falcons will head to the Mid-American Conference's 'West Coast' to face Northern Illinois University, with tipoff set for 2:00 p.m. at the Convocation Center.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• There are many ways to keep up with the Falcons in 2024-25...

• TV/VIDEO: Saturday's NIU game will be streamed via ESPN+.
• RADIO/AUDIO: The NIU matchup, as is the case for all of BGSU's 2024-25 games, is scheduled to have an audio stream thanks to Falcon Media Sports Network.
• LIVE STATS: Live stats are scheduled to be available for all games in '24-25.
• TWITTER/X & THE 'GRAM: In-game updates, along with other key information, can be found on the BGSU women's basketball Twitter/X account (@BGSUWBB), with periodic updates on the program's Instagram account (bgsuwbb) as well.

• For all of the pertinent links to any and all ways to follow the Falcons, go to BGSUFalcons.com and navigate your way to the "women's basketball schedule" page on game day.

LAST TIME OUT: OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT OBLITERATES OHIO, 91-61
• The Falcons hit a school-record 18 three-point field goals on Wednesday evening (Feb. 26), in a 91-61 dismantling of Ohio University at the Stroh Center. BGSU has won five consecutive games and seven of the last eight contests.

• On Senior Night, fourth-year Falcon Amy Velasco had a double-double, with 22 points and 11 assists. Sophomore Paige Kohler also scored 22 points and dished out six assists, as the Falcons (16-11, 9-6 MAC) had 26 assists on 31 field goals in the win.

• Lexi Fleming and Erika Porter, the two players who were recognized along with Velasco in Senior Night festivities prior to tipoff, each scored 12 points in the victory.

• Three Falcons – Kohler (six), Velasco (five) and Fleming (four) – made at least four three pointers each.

• Kennedi Watkins led the Bobcats (6-20, 4-11 MAC) with 16 points, while Bailey Tabeling added 14.

• BGSU had a whopping 43-22 rebounding advantage in the win, and the Falcons outscored the Bobcats in each of the four quarters.

• The Falcons shot 61.5 percent from the field in the first half, rolling up a 50-27 lead at the intermission. BGSU wound up shooting over 50% from the floor for the second-straight game, finishing with a 31-for-58 (53.4%) performance. BG went 18-for-36 (50%) from the arc.

With the win, the Falcons clinched a berth in the MAC Tournament in Cleveland, which begins on Wednesday, March 12.

THREE-MENDOUS
• The Falcons' total of 18 three-point field goals made against Ohio, as mentioned, broke the school record. BGSU had made 16 triples on no fewer than eight previous occasions, most recently against Furman in March of 2022.

SHARING IS CARING
• The Falcons recorded a season-high assist total on Wednesday night (Feb. 26), with 26 assists on 31 field goals vs. Ohio. That total is the Falcons' highest in over two years, since BG dished out 26 assists in a win at Buffalo on Jan. 25, 2023.

• BGSU is now 7-0 this season when recording 20 or more assists in a game.

PASSING THEIR BOARDS WITH FLYING COLORS
• BGSU had a whopping +21 rebounding advantage in the win over Ohio, with a 43-22 lead on the boards Wednesday (Feb. 26). It marked the fifth time this season that the Falcons have out-rebounded the opponent by 18 or more.

• BGSU has now had a rebounding margin of +18 or better a total of 33 times since the 1994-95 season (single-game records prior to '94-95 are incomplete). The 2024-25 campaign marks the first time in that 30-year span that the Falcons have had five such games in a season. The 2021-22 Falcons had four such games.

• After out-rebounding Arkansas by 18 (41-23) in the final game of November, the Falcons began December with a 45-25 advantage on the boards against Xavier. That had marked the first time since at least '94-95 that BGSU had a +18 rebounding margin or better in back-to-back games.

• The Falcons were +20 on the boards in the first Ohio meeting (Jan. 15), and BGSU was +21 at Arkansas State (49-28; Feb. 8).

VELASCO'S ON A VERY SHORT LIST
• Amy Velasco enters the NIU contest with career totals of 1,475 points and 477 assists at BGSU. She is one of only two players in program history to score more than 1,400 points and dish out more than 400 assists.

• The only other player in that exclusive club is BGSU Hall-of-Famer Kate Achter, who had 1,580 points and a school-record 688 assists from 2004-08.

EP = ELITE PERFORMER
• It's no secret that Erika Porter can shoot the ball well. How well? Very well. So well, in fact, that she has already set several school records and is on pace for another.

• Last season, Porter shot 66.3 percent from the field, making 159 of her 240 shots to set a new school single-season record in that category. In fact, she broke not only the BG record, but the MAC single-season mark as well, and she ranked second in the entire nation in field-goal percentage a year ago.

• Porter shot 68.2% from the field in MAC games last season, making 107 of her 157 attempts. She shattered that BGSU record (65.5%, Talita Scott in '92-93) and fell just shy of breaking the conference mark (68.9%, Buffalo's Heather Turner in 2006-07).

• Porter, who went 7-for-9 from the floor in Saturday's (Feb. 22) win over Toledo, is on pace to shatter another BGSU record – the school career record for field-goal pct. Entering the NIU game, Porter has shot 60.9% (271 of 445) from the field in her BG tenure – well ahead of the current record of 57.0% (Jacki Raterman, 1995-99). At the risk of being mentioned by @OldTakesExposed, we'll just go ahead and say it – Porter is a virtual lock to break this record.

• The complete list of BGSU career FG pct. leaders can be found on page 25 of the PDF version of these very notes.

PK10 GETS IT DONE
• Sophomore Paige Kohler had a monster game in the Falcons' 82-69 win over Akron (Jan. 29). Kohler had 28 points, seven rebounds and seven assists to lead the team in all three categories. She tied her career scoring high, and fell just two rebounds and one assist shy of matching each of those career standards.

• Three days later, she had a team-leading 17 points in the win at Central Michigan (Feb. 1), including arguably the biggest bucket of the game. With under a minute to play and the Falcons leading by a single point, Kohler hit a long three-point attempt to give BGSU a 71-67 lead with 42.0 seconds to go.

• Beginning with that Akron contest, she led the Falcons in scoring in each of four-straight MAC games. More recently, Kohler tied for game honors with 22 points against Ohio Wednesday night (Feb. 26).

• Kohler, who has started all 58 of BGSU's games since her arrival on campus, heads into the NIU game with impressive career totals of 693 points, 250 rebounds and 204 assists. She currently ranks 15th in BGSU history in career scoring average (11.95 ppg), and is eighth in career assists per game (3.52).

THE FLEMING FACTOR
• Lexi Fleming has been a B!G part of the Falcons' success since arriving at BG. The MAC Freshman of the Year in 2020-21, Fleming missed the entire '21-22 season due to injury, but returned to the court in 2022-23 and saw action in 36 games as BGSU went 31-7. She was injured in December of 2023 and missed nearly an entire year, before returning to the court for this season's Xavier game (Dec. 7).

• In the seasons in which Fleming has been healthy for the majority of the year (i.e., more than 10 games), the Falcons' records are as follows...
    • 2020-21:    21-8, 14-4 MAC (MAC regular-season champions; WNIT)
    • 2022-23:    31-7, 14-4 MAC (T-second in the MAC; WNIT Fab Four)
    • 2024-25:    16-11, 9-6 MAC (heading into Saturday's NIU game)

• Fleming surpassed the 1,000-point mark last month (Jan. 18). She became the 32nd player to reach that plateau, and she did so in her 82nd career game, tying her for the ninth-fastest player to reach the millennium mark in program history.

• Entering the NIU game, Fleming has played in a total of 92 contests as a Falcon. BGSU has a record of 67-25 in those 92 games, including a 36-14 ledger in MAC regular-season play, a 40-16 mark in all games (regular season and tournament) against conference foes and a 33-8 record at the Stroh Center.

• Four of those losses have come against nationally-ranked opponents, including a game at Indiana (Dec. 22, 2023), when Fleming played just 70 seconds before leaving due to injury. Heading into that IU game, Fleming had led the 2023-24 team in scoring (16.7 ppg), rebounding (5.1 rpg for the 5-5 guard) and steals (2.7 spg).

• The list of BGSU's leading career scorers can be found on page 25 of these notes, while the list of quickest Falcons to 1,000 points is on page six.

FLEMING CONTINUES TO CLIMB CAREER CHARTS
• Lexi Fleming is in her fifth season with the Falcons, but has played the equivalent of roughly three seasons in a BG uniform. She has been moving up the BGSU career scoring list at a rapid rate since returning to the court in early December, and enters the NIU game with 1,140 career points, ranking 26th in BGSU history. With an average of 12.39 points per game, Fleming is 11th on that BG career list.

• In her career, Fleming has now made 173 three-point field goals, tying her for ninth in school history. She is fifth on the BGSU career list for triples made per game (1.88). And, Fleming is 16th in school history in assists per game, with 2.72, and 17th in career free-throw percentage (79.3%).

• Additionally, she continues to move up on the career steals list. Fleming now has 201 steals as a Falcon, good for ninth in BGSU history, and she is currently third in career steals per game (2.19).

VELASCO CONTINUES TO MOVE UP THE SCORING LIST AS WELL
• Amy Velasco is putting together a stellar senior season. Velasco has scored in double digits in 24 of the Falcons' 27 games to date, and is averaging a team-high 16.2 points per contest in 2024-25.

• Velasco has scored at least 20 points seven times this season, including in each of the last two games. She poured in a season-high 30 points in the Falcons' win over Toledo last weekend, and followed that up with 22 points on Senior Night against Ohio.

• Velasco also had game-high totals of 28 points at Horizon League favorite Cleveland State and 24 points at nationally-ranked Ohio State.

• She recently moved into the top 20 on BGSU's career scoring list, and has continued to climb the leaderboard. With 1,475 career points, as mentioned earlier, Velasco currently ranks eighth on that list.

• Velasco has a career scoring average of 11.52 points per game, which currently places her 20th on that BGSU list. And, with a career total of 152 three-point field goals made, she is 15th on that BGSU chart.

• Velasco has a career free-throw rate of 83.4%, having made 321 of her 385 attempts from the stripe. She is ranked ninth on that BGSU career list.

AMY ALSO ACCUMULATES ASSISTS
• Amy Velasco, as mentioned, is now eighth on the BGSU career scoring list, and the senior also enjoys a lofty perch on the school's assists chart. She currently ranks sixth on that list, and now has 477 career dimes after dishing out a season-high 11 vs. Ohio on Wednesday night (Feb. 26). Lindsay Austin (508 assists from 2000-04) holds down the fifth-place spot.

• Velasco currently ranks sixth in BGSU history in assists per game, with 3.73. If you were able to find the BGSU career scoring list elsewhere in these notes, you'll have no trouble finding the complete lists of both career assists and assists per game.

DONAHUE = DEFENSE
• Freshman Johnea Donahue has stepped up her production at both ends of the floor in recent weeks. She moved into the starting lineup prior to the Akron game on Jan. 29, and the Falcons have gone 7-1 since then.

• Donahue has scored in double figures in five of those eight games, including four of the last five, but arguably has made her biggest contributions at the defensive end of the court. Donahue had a total of eight steals – just two shy of the school's single-game record – in Saturday's (Feb. 22) win over Toledo, and currently leads the entire MAC in steals per game, with 2.58.

NUMBER 3 HAS BEEN A KEY IN BGSU'S 4 ROAD WINS
• Last week's (Feb. 15) Western Michigan game was the Falcons' fourth true road win this season. Freshman Johnea Donahue has played a key role in each of those wins.

• Donahue had 10 points, tying her career best at the time, along with a career-high eight rebounds in the win at Ohio (Jan. 15). She also had two assists and three steals.

• At Central Michigan (Feb. 1), she set a new career high with 12 points, and tied her career best with five assists in a comeback victory. Donahue also had five rebounds and a pair of steals.

• Then, at Arkansas State (Feb. 8), Donahue exploded for career-high numbers in both points (19) and rebounds (10), as she went 8-of-9 from the field, including 2-of-2 from three-point range. Her lone steal came in the final minute of play with the game tied.

• And, she was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor at WMU (Feb. 19), with 13 points and six rebounds in the win.

• In the four road wins, Donahue has shot a combined 20-of-24 (83.3%) from the floor, including 3-of-3 from the arc. She averaged 13.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in those four contests.

THE FALCONS – A QUICK OVERVIEW
• The Falcons are 16-11 on the season, and BGSU is 9-6 in MAC play. BG is currently tied for fifth place in the 12-team league. The Falcons have won five games in a row after Wednesday's (Feb. 26) 91-61 win over Ohio at the Stroh Center.

• The Ohio game came on the heels of last weekend's (Feb. 22) 81-72 victory over arch-rival Toledo at the Stroh. BGSU has won seven of the last eight games, with the lone loss in that time coming at  MAC-leading Ball State (71-51, Feb. 5). The Falcons rebounded from that setback, hitting the road and beating Arkansas State, 75-73, in the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge (Feb. 8). That BG win snapped A-State's 11-game winning streak.

• Then, the Orange and Brown returned home and picked up a 70-55 win over Central Michigan (Feb. 15), before taking to the road once again and posting a 70-63 win at Western Michigan (Feb. 19).

• The loss at BSU had snapped a two-game winning streak that included an 82-69 home win over Akron (Jan. 29) and a 76-69 road victory against CMU (Feb. 1).

• BGSU's non-league schedule included home wins over Southern Miss, St. Bonaventure, Xavier and Marquette, with neutral-site victories vs. Stetson and Arkansas. The Falcons' five non-conference losses included road contests vs. two nationally-ranked teams (#13/12 West Virginia and #12/11 Ohio State), as well as Horizon League favorite Cleveland State.

• BGSU is 10-2 at home, 4-9 on the road and 2-0 in neutral-site games this season to date. In MAC play, the Falcons are 6-2 at the Stroh and 3-4 at hostile venues.

• Overall, the Falcons have a scoring margin of +2.9 and a rebounding margin of +3.4 this year. BG has outrebounded 15 of this season's first 27 opponents, with a rebounding margin of 10 or more in eight of those games to date. That includes a school record five games with a rebounding margin of +18 or better.

• Four players are scoring in double digits for the Orange and Brown. Senior Amy Velasco leads the way with 16.2 ppg, and she also paces the Falcons with 4.8 assists per contest. Velasco has scored in double figures in 24 of 27 games this season, including a 30-point explosion in the win over Toledo, and she is second on the club with 45 three-point field goals made. She is shooting a BG-best 42.1 percent from the arc, good for second in the MAC. Velasco leads the entire conference in both free-throw pct. (92.7%) and minutes played (35.54 mpg). She has made 93 career starts and has 75 career double-digit scoring games.

• Sophomore Paige Kohler and fifth-year Falcon Lexi Fleming have 13.1 and 12.6 ppg, respectively. Kohler also has 4.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, and has made a team-leading 66 three-point field goals. She has flirted with a triple-double on two occasions this season, and tied Velasco for game honors with 22 points vs. Ohio on Wednesday (Feb. 26). Kohler is fourth in the MAC in minutes (34.26 mpg) and fifth in the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.74).

• Fleming had 23-point outings on the road against both Miami and Toledo, part of a five-game stretch in which she led BG in scoring four times. She has made 41 triples in her 20 games to date, including a season-high four vs. Ohio, and has 3.2 assists and 2.3 steals per game to rank second on the team in both categories.

• Fifth-year collegian Erika Porter is averaging 10.2 ppg, and has a team-leading 5.5 rpg. Porter also leads the Falcons and is second in the MAC in field-goal pct. (54.6%).

• Freshmen Johnea Donahue and Lauren Gerken have 7.3 and 7.2 ppg, respectively. Donahue has scored in double digits in four of the last five games, and she leads the MAC with 2.58 steals per game, including a career-high eight in the win over Toledo.

• Sophomores Keiryn McGuff and Taya Ellis are averaging 4.4 and 4.0 ppg, respectively. McGuff also has 3.8 rpg on the year. Ellis has 4.8 rpg on the season, ranking second on the team, and she leads BGSU with 0.9 blocks per game. Junior Kendal Moxey has 3.1 ppg and has gone 30-for-58 (51.7%) from the floor.

• In MAC play, Velasco (14.9 ppg), Kohler (14.1) and Fleming (13.8) all have scored between 207 and 223 points in the 15 games to date. Porter and Kohler has 5.1 rpg, while Velasco (4.7 apg), Kohler (3.9) and Fleming (3.2) all are averaging over three assists per game vs. conference competition.

• Donahue and Fleming are tied for second in the entire MAC in steals in conference games, and Kohler now leads the league in assist/turnover ratio. Porter is second in the conference in field-goal percentage in league action.

• The Falcons returned seven players who saw action on the 2023-24 team that went 16-15 overall and 10-8 in MAC play. BG won four of the last six regular-season games, and the Falcons advanced to national postseason play with trip to the WNIT.

• BGSU's other returnees from last season are third-year Falcons Emily Siesel and Jasmine Fearne. Siesel played in 26 games off the bench last winter, while Fearne is back after missing the entire '23-24 campaign due to injury. Fearne is fourth on the Falcons with 20 successful triples in 2024-25 to date, while Siesel saw extended minutes against Ohio and had a career-high six points and a game- and career-best three steals.

• The Falcons' seven newcomers include a pair of junior-college transfers in Moxey and Kristiana Kulackovska, along with five freshmen – Donahue, Gerken, Laila Harrison, Sofia Moschen and Taylor Wallace. Moschen joined the team in the first week of January.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE HUSKIES
• Northern Illinois is 12-15 overall, and the Huskies are 5-10 in MAC play. NIU is looking to snap a three-game losing streak, which came after the Huskies had won three-straight contests. Most recently, Northern suffered a 76-58 loss at Kent State on Wednesday night.

• NIU is 5-7 in home games, 6-8 on the road and 1-0 in neutral-site contests this season to date. In MAC play, the Huskies  are 2-5 at home and 3-5 on the road.

• Chelby Koker leads the team in scoring with 13.5 ppg, pacing a balanced attack which sees five players scoring at least 8.3 ppg. Alecia Doyle and Brooke Stonebraker have 12.2 and 10.9 ppg, with Stonebraker pulling down a team-leading 6.4 rpg. Koker has 4.9 apg, while Lexi Carlsen has hit a team-high 60 three-point field goals.

• Head coach Lisa Carlsen welcomed back seven letterwinners, including two starters, from last year's team that finished 15-16 overall and 8-10 in the MAC.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead Northern Illinois, 30-21, in the all-time series, and BGSU has won the last three meetings, including this season's first matchup. Last month (Jan. 18, 2025), the Falcons posted a 74-60 victory at the Stroh. BGSU's last trip to DeKalb saw Amy Velasco score a career-high 32 points in an 82-73 Falcon victory (Feb. 24, 2024). NIU's last series win was an 85-81 triumph in the Stroh two years ago (Feb. 15, 2023).

BGSU is 17-10 at home, 12-11 on the road and 1-0 in neutral-site meetings with the Huskies through the years. Additional series information can be found elsewhere in these very notes.

DOWN THE ROAD
• Following the NIU game, the Falcons will close out the home schedule with a Wednesday (March 5) matchup with Kent State. That game will begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will wrap up the regular-season schedule with a game at Eastern Michigan next Saturday (March 8), with tipoff set for 2:00 p.m.

FOR MORE INFORMATION...
For more information on BGSU women's hoops, be sure to follow the Falcons on Facebook (@BGWBB), Twitter/X (@BGSU_Athletics and @BGSUWBB) and Instagram (@bgsuwbb), as well as on the web at BGSUFalcons.com.