SATURDAY, MARCH 8  |  2:00 P.M.  |  GEORGE GERVIN GAMEABOVE CENTER  |  YPSILANTI, MICH.

JUMP BALL
• The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team, having concluded the home portion of the 2024-25 schedule on a successful note, hits the road to wrap up the regular season. Head coach Fred Chmiel and the Falcons, winners of eight of the last 10 games, head to Ypsilanti, Mich., for a Saturday (March 8) matchup with Eastern Michigan University. Tipoff for the Mid-American Conference game is set for 2:00 p.m. at the George Gervin GameAbove Center.

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

• TV/VIDEO: Saturday's EMU game will be streamed via ESPN+.
• RADIO/AUDIO: The EMU 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: FALCONS, FEULED BY FLEMING'S FANTASTIC FIRST FRAME, FLY PAST FLASHES
• Lexi Fleming scored no fewer than 21 points in the first quarter on Wednesday evening (March 5), as the Falcons defeated Kent State, 84-61, at the Stroh Center.

• The Falcons (17-12, 10-7 MAC) led from wire to wire, as Fleming scored 25 points to pace four players in double digits in the win. Paige Kohler had 17 points and a game-high eight rebounds, with Erika Porter and Amy Velasco scoring 13 points apiece.

• Jenna Batsch had 25 points to lead the Golden Flashes (19-11, 11-6 MAC), with Tatiana Thomas adding 14 and Dionna Gray 10.

• Fleming's 21-point quarter shattered the school record. She made 7-of-8 shots from the field, including a 6-for-7 performance from three-point range, in the quarter.

• With the Flashes paying extra attention to Fleming after that outburst, she attempted only five total shots over the remaining three quarters, but dished out six assists to tie Velasco for game honors in the win.

• As a team, BGSU shot 56.1 percent from the floor, and the Falcons went 12-of-24 (50%) from long distance. Kent State shot 38.7% from the field and 41.7% from the arc, and BG had a 41-27 rebounding advantage in the win.

QUARTERLY REPORT: FLEMING SHATTERS THE SCHOOL RECORD
• Fifth-year Falcon Lexi Fleming, as mentioned, shattered the school record for points in a quarter, with 21. She broke the record held by Carly Santoro, who had 17 points in the second quarter of a win over Eastern Kentucky (Nov. 10, 2017).

• The list of top point totals in a quarter in BGSU history follows...
BGSU RECORD BOOK – MOST POINTS IN A QUARTER, INDIVIDUAL
21  Lexi Fleming vs. Kent State (March 5, 2025 – first quarter)                   
17  Carly Santoro vs. Eastern Kentucky (Nov. 10, 2017 – second quarter)           
16  Angela Perry vs. California Baptist (Nov. 30, 2019 – third quarter)           
16  Morgan Sharps at Wright State (Dec. 12, 2023 – third quarter)                 
15  Five times (MR: Amy Velasco at Northern Ill. [Feb. 24, 2024 – fourth quarter])
14  Five times (MR: Amy Velasco vs. Florida [March 27, 2023 – third quarter])     

HOME COOKIN'
• The Falcons finished the home portion of the schedule with a record of 11-2. BGSU's home winning percentage (.846) in 2024-25 is the third best since the Stroh Center opened 14 years ago.

• The 2013-14 Falcons went 16-1 at home (.941), winning 16-straight games at home – including three WNIT victories at the Stroh – before losing to Rutgers in a WNIT quarterfinal-round game.

• The 2011-12 club, the first BG team to play at the Stroh, went 14-2 (.875), with the only losses each coming by one point, against #16/20 Purdue in the first women's game in the history of the building, and vs. VCU in the WNIT.

• Over the last five seasons, the Falcons have a record of 47-17 (.734) inside the Stroh.

VELASCO'S ON A VERY SHORT LIST
• Amy Velasco enters the EMU encounter with career totals of 1,504 points and 488 assists at BGSU. She is one of only two players in program history to score more than 1,500 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).

• Now, Porter is on pace to shatter another BGSU record – the school career record for field-goal pct. Entering the EMU game, Porter has shot 61.2% (281 of 459) 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 26 of the PDF version of these notes.

PK10 GETS IT DONE
• Sophomore Paige Kohler has stuffed the stat sheet on multiple occasions this season. Kohler had 28 points, seven rebounds and seven assists to lead the team in all three categories in a win over Akron on Jan. 29. That came two weeks after she flirted with a triple-double at Ohio (Jan. 15), with 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

• She began February with a team-best 17 points in a 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 the 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 (Feb. 26) before scoring 17 points against both Northern Illinois (March 1) and Kent State (March 5).

• Kohler, who has started all 60 of BGSU's games since her arrival on campus, heads into the EMU game with impressive career totals of 727 points, 264 rebounds and 210 assists. She currently ranks 13th in BGSU history in career scoring average (12.12 ppg), and is eighth in career assists per game (3.50).

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:    17-12, 10-7 MAC (heading into Saturday's EMU game)

• Fleming surpassed the 1,000-point mark on 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 EMU game, Fleming has played in a total of 94 contests as a Falcon. BGSU has a record of 68-26 in those 94 games, including a 37-15 ledger in MAC regular-season play, a 41-17 mark in all games (regular season and tournament) against conference foes and a 34-8 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 26 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 EMU game with 1,175 career points, ranking 25th in BGSU history. With an average of 12.50 points per game, Fleming is 11th on that BG career list.

• In her career, Fleming has now made 180 three-point field goals, good for eighth in school history. She is fourth on the BGSU career list for triples made per game (1.91). And, Fleming is 16th in school history in assists per game, with 2.77, and 17th in career free-throw percentage (79.1%).

• Additionally, she continues to move up on the career steals list. Fleming now has 204 steals as a Falcon, placing her eighth in BGSU history, and she is currently third in career steals per game (2.18).

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 26 of the Falcons' 29 games to date, and is averaging a team-high 16.1 points per contest in 2024-25.

• Velasco has scored at least 20 points seven times this season, including in two of the last four games. She poured in a season-high 30 points in the Falcons' win over Toledo (Feb. 22), 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 1,504 career points, as mentioned earlier, Velasco currently ranks eighth on that list.

• Velasco has a career scoring average of 11.57 points per game, which currently places her 20th on that BGSU list. And, with a career total of 156 three-point field goals made, she is 15th on that BGSU chart.

• Velasco has a career free-throw rate of 83.4%, having made 322 of her 386 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 488 career dimes. 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 3.75. 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 8-2 since then.

• Donahue has scored in double figures in six of those 10 games, including five of the last seven, 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 the win over Toledo (Feb. 22), and currently leads the entire MAC in steals per game, with 2.50.

NUMBER 3 HAS BEEN A KEY IN BGSU'S 4 ROAD WINS
• The Western Michigan game (Feb. 19) 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. 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 long range. Her lone steal came in the final minute with the game tied.

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

• In the four road victories, 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 17-12 on the season, and BGSU is 10-7 in MAC play. BG currently sits in a tie for fifth place in the 12-team league. The Falcons saw a five-game winning streak come to an end with last Saturday's (March 1) 84-77, double-overtime loss at Northern Illinois, but bounced back with an 84-61 victory over Kent State on Wednesday (March 5).

• Prior to the NIU game, the Falcons had downed Ohio, 91-61, hitting a school-record 18 three-point field goals in the process. And, that win came on the heels of an 81-72 victory over arch-rival Toledo at the Stroh (Feb. 22).

• BGSU has won eight of the last 10 games, with the lone regulation 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 went 11-2 at home, and BG is 4-10 on the road and 2-0 in neutral-site games this season to date. In MAC play, the Falcons were 7-2 at the Stroh and are 3-5 at hostile venues.

• Overall, the Falcons have a scoring margin of +3.3 and a rebounding margin of +3.8 this year. BG has outrebounded 17 of this season's first 29 opponents, with a rebounding margin of 10 or more in nine 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 16.1 ppg, and she also paces the Falcons with 4.9 assists per contest. Velasco has scored in double figures in 26 of 29 games this season, including a 30-point explosion in the win over Toledo, and she is second on the club with 48 three-point field goals made. She is shooting a BG-best 42.6 percent from the arc, good for second in the MAC. Velasco leads the entire conference in both free-throw pct. (92.8%) and minutes played (35.89 mpg). She has made 95 career starts and has 77 career double-digit scoring games.

• Sophomore Paige Kohler and fifth-year Falcon Lexi Fleming have 13.4 and 13.0 ppg, respectively. Kohler also has 4.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, and has made a team-leading 72 three-point field goals. She has flirted with a triple-double on several occasions this season, and is third in the MAC in minutes (34.84 mpg) and fourth in the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.72).

• Fleming has made 48 triples in her 22 games to date, including six in the first quarter alone on Wednesday night (March 5), when she scored a school-record 21 points in the opening 10 minutes of the win over KSU. Fleming has 3.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game to rank second on the team in both categories. She has scored in double digits 16 times, including in each of the last six contests.

• Fifth-year collegian Erika Porter is averaging 10.4 ppg, and has a team-leading 5.7 rpg. Porter also leads the Falcons and is second in the MAC in field-goal pct. (55.7%) after going a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor vs. KSU.

• Freshmen Johnea Donahue and Lauren Gerken have 7.7 and 7.2 ppg, respectively. Donahue has scored in double digits in five of the last seven games, and leads the MAC with 2.50 steals per game, including a career-high eight vs. UT.

• Sophomores Keiryn McGuff and Taya Ellis are averaging 4.1 and 3.9 ppg, respectively. McGuff also has 3.5 rpg on the year. Ellis has 4.5 rpg on the season, and she leads BGSU and ranks sixth in the MAC with 0.9 blocks per game. Junior Kendal Moxey has 3.0 ppg and has gone 30-for-58 (51.7%) from the floor.

• In MAC play, Velasco (14.8 ppg), Kohler (14.5) and Fleming (14.2) all have scored between 242 and 252 points in the 17 games to date. Porter has 5.5 rpg, while Velasco (4.8 apg), Kohler (3.8) and Fleming (3.4) all are averaging over three assists per game vs. conference competition.

• Donahue is second in the MAC in steals in conference games, with Fleming tied for third. Kohler leads the entire league in assist/turnover ratio, with Fleming and Velasco fourth and sixth, respectively, in that category. Velasco is first in the league in free-throw pct., with Porter second in the loop in field-goal pct. 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 a 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 EAGLES
• Eastern Michigan is 2-26 overall, and the Eagles are 1-16 in MAC play to date. Eastern is looking to snap a three-game losing streak, with the most recent contest a 70-53 setback at Akron on Wednesday (March 5). The Eagles' conference win came on the road, at Northern Illinois two weeks ago (76-72; Feb. 22).

• EMU is 1-12 in home games, 1-13 on the road and 0-1 in neutral-site contests this season to date. In MAC play, the Eagles are 0-8 at home and went 1-8 on the road.

• Sisi Eleko leads the team in both scoring and rebounding, and is the only player in the MAC who is averaging a double-double. Eleko is second in the league in scoring, with 17.8 ppg, and she leads the conference in rebounding, with 10.2 rpg. Both Olivia Smith and Mackenzie Amalia are averaging 9.6 ppg, while Olivia Westphal has 8.3 ppg and has hit a team-leading 59 three-point field goals.

• Head coach Sahar Nusseibeh, in her first season with the Eagles, has seven returning players from last season's team that finished 7-22 overall and 3-15 in the MAC.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead Eastern Michigan, 58-21, in the all-time series, and BGSU won this season's first matchup. The Falcons posted a 90-76 win inside the Stroh Center two months ago (Jan. 4, 2025). BGSU's last trip to Ypsilanti saw the Eagles pick up a 59-54 victory on the final day of the regular season last year (March 9, 2024), snapping a six-game series win streak for the Orange and Brown.

• BGSU is 32-6 at home, 21-14 on the road and 5-1 in neutral-site meetings with EMU through the years. Additional series information can be found elsewhere in these very notes.

DOWN THE ROAD
• Following the EMU game, the Falcons will head to downtown Cleveland for the MAC Tournament, which begins with quarterfinal-round matchups on Wednesday (March 12) at Rocket Arena. BGSU's start time and opponent remain TBA. If the tournament started today, BG would be the sixth seed and would face Buffalo in the fourth game of the day.

• The tournament continues with semifinal-round games on Friday, March 14, and the championship set for the following day.

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.