SATURDAY, FEB. 22  |  7:00 P.M.  |  STROH CENTER  |  BOWLING GREEN, OHIO

JUMP BALL
• The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team puts a three-game winning streak on the line Saturday night (Feb. 22). Head coach Fred Chmiel and the Falcons renew the "Battle of I-75" as the University of Toledo comes to town. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Stroh Center.

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

• TV/VIDEO: Saturday's Toledo game will be streamed via ESPN+.
• RADIO/AUDIO: The Toledo tilt, 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.

EVENTS / PROMOTIONS / GIVEAWAYS
• There will be a lot going on at the Stroh on Saturday night. Some of the many happenings, in no particular order, include...

• The game will be an orange wave, with fans encouraged to wear wear orange
• It will be '90s Night at the Stroh
• The first 400 students will receive a free T-shirt
• The first 500 students will receive free pizza, sponsored by BGSU
• And, the identities of Freddie and Frieda Falcon will be revealed in a Mascot Reveal on the court after the game

LAST TIME OUT: FALCONS USE RED-HOT START TO CORRAL BRONCOS
• BGSU got off to a red-hot start Wednesday evening (Feb. 19), and the Falcons held off a late comeback bid by Western Michigan. It all added up to a 70-63 BG win at University Arena.

• The Falcons (14-11, 7-6 MAC) burst out to a 26-10 lead after one quarter of action, and after Western crept back within five points in the second period, BG ended the half on an 8-2 run to restore the double-digit margin.

• BGSU led by double figures for all of the third period and half of the fourth, before an 8-0 run by the Broncos (10-14, 6-7 MAC) cut BG's lead to just five points with 3:37 remaining. But, Western got no closer, as the Falcons made a number of key defensive stops and maintained the lead at the free-throw line.

• Amy Velasco had 15 points to lead a balanced BG scoring attack, with Johnea Donahue adding 13, Paige Kohler 12 and Lexi Fleming 11. Fleming had a team-high seven rebounds as BG enjoyed a 36-28 advantage on the boards, and the fifth-year Falcon also had five assists and three steals.

• Velasco dished out five assists as well, while Donahue was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field while adding six rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot.

• Erika Porter had six points, five rebounds and two assists, leading all players with a plus/minus rating of +15. Taya Ellis had five points and five boards, and went 3-of-4 at the free-throw line in the final minute of play to help seal the road win.

AMY ENTERING RARIFIED AIR
• Senior Amy Velasco had a team-high 15 points in the Falcons' win at Western Michigan Wednesday night (Feb. 19). She moved up several spots on the BGSU career scoring list in the process, and is now just one point away from entering the top-10 on that list.

• In fact, with 10 more points, Velasco would move into sole possession of eighth place on that list. More about Velasco's rankings on numerous BG career charts can be found later in these notes.

VELASCO IS ON A VERY SHORT LIST
• Amy Velasco enters the Toledo tussle with career totals of 1,423 points and 461 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.

NUMBER 3 HAS BEEN A KEY IN BGSU'S 4 ROAD WINS
• The 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 Wednesday (Feb. 19), and had 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.

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 Toledo tilt, Porter has shot 60.6% (261 of 431) from the field in her BG tenure – well ahead of the current record of 57.0% (Jacki Raterman, 1995-99).  Hear us now and believe us later, @OldTakesExposed – Porter is a virtual lock to break this record.

• The complete list of BGSU career FG pct. leaders can be found on page 25.

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.

• Then, 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.

• With 15 points at Ball State (Feb. 5) and 18 more in the home win over CMU (Feb. 15), she led the Falcons in scoring in each of four-straight MAC games.

• Kohler, who has started all 56 of BGSU's games since her arrival on campus, heads into the Toledo game with impressive career totals of 669 points, 243 rebounds and 192 assists. She currently ranks 15th in BGSU history in career scoring average (11.95 ppg), and is eighth in career assists per game (3.53).

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).

• 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 UT game, Fleming has played in a total of 90 contests as a Falcon. BGSU has a record of 65-25 in those 90 games, including a 34-14 ledger in MAC regular-season play, a 38-16 mark in all games (regular season and tournament) against conference foes and a 31-8 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 Toledo game with 1,117 career points, ranking 26th in BGSU history. With an average of 12.41 points per game, Fleming is 11th on that BG career list.

• In her career, Fleming has now made 166 three-point field goals, ranking her 13th in school history. She is fifth on the BGSU career list for triples made per game (1.84). And, Fleming is 16th in school history in assists per game, with 2.74, and 17th in career free-throw percentage (79.3%).

• Additionally, she continues to move up on the career steals list. Fleming now has 199 steals as a Falcon, good for ninth in BGSU history, and she is currently second in career steals per game (2.21).

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 22 of the Falcons' 25 games to date, and is averaging a team-high 15.4 points per contest in 2024-25.

• Velasco has scored at least 20 points five times this season, including 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 1,423 career points, Velasco currently ranks 11th, and she is now only one point away from moving into the top 10 on that list.

• Velasco has a career scoring average of 11.29 points per game, which currently places her 21st on that BGSU list. And, with a career total of 144 three-point field goals made, she is 16th on that BGSU chart.

• Velasco has a career free-throw rate of 83.1%, having made 309 of her 372 attempts from the stripe. She is ranked ninth on that BGSU career list.

AMY ALSO ACCUMULATES ASSISTS
• Amy Velasco, as mentioned, is now 11th on the BGSU career scoring list, and the senior also enjoys a lofty perch on the school's assists chart. In the Kent State game on New Year's Day, Velasco became just the seventh player in school history to surpass 400 career assists.

• Velasco recently moved past her former teammate, Kadie Hempfling (432 assists from 2018-23), into sixth place on the BGSU career list. Velasco now has 461 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 3.66. 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.

BE READY WHEN YOUR NAME IS CALLED
• The Falcons lost an estimated 126 player-games to injury last season. No fewer than 10 different players were unavailable for at least one game due to injury or illness. Despite those setbacks, BGSU, picked for fourth place in the 2023-24 MAC Preseason Poll, still tied for fourth in the final MAC standings and advanced to national postseason play.

• This season, the Falcons have lost 67 player-games heading into the Toledo contest. A total of eight different players have missed at least one game due to injury or illness this year to date.

FIT TO BE TIED
• Wednesday's Western Michigan game was the Falcons' 13th Mid-American Conference contest of the season. And, the WMU matchup marked the ninth time that BGSU met a team tied with the Falcons in the MAC standings.

• Each of BG's first five MAC contests saw the Falcons face a team that was even with the Falcons in the standings. Then, after three-straight games against teams either above or below the Falcons, BGSU returned to 'normalcy,' meeting a team even with the Falcons in the standings four times in the next five games.

THE FALCONS – A QUICK OVERVIEW
• The Falcons are 14-11 on the season, and BGSU is 7-6 in MAC play. BG is currently in  sixth place in the 12-team league. The Falcons are coming off of a 70-63 win at Western Michigan Wednesday night (Feb. 19).

• BGSU has won five of the last six 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 posted a 70-55 win over Central Michigan last Saturday (Feb. 15) before downing the Broncos in Kalamazoo.

• 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).

• In addition to the aforementioned victories, the Falcons have MAC wins over Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois at home, and Ohio on the road. BGSU also has conference losses at home against Buffalo and WMU, and on the road vs. Kent State, Miami and Toledo.

• In non-league play, BG posted home wins over Southern Miss, St. Bonaventure, Xavier and Marquette, with neutral-site victories vs. Stetson and Arkansas. The 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 8-2 at home, 4-9 on the road and 2-0 in neutral-site games this season to date. In MAC play, the Falcons are 4-2 at the Stroh and 3-4 at hostile venues.

• Overall, the Falcons have a scoring margin of +1.6 and a rebounding margin of +3.2 this year. BG has outrebounded 14 of this season's first 25 opponents, with a rebounding margin of 10 or more in seven of those games to date. That includes a school record-tying four games with a rebounding margin of +18 or better.

• Three players are scoring in double digits for the Orange and Brown. Senior Amy Velasco leads the way with 15.4 ppg, and she also paces the Falcons with 4.6 assists per contest. Velasco has scored in double figures in 22 of 25 games this season, and is second on the club with 37 three-point field goals made. She is shooting a BG-best 39.4 percent from the arc. Velasco leads the entire conference in both free-throw pct. (92.8%) and minutes played (35.43 mpg). She has made 91 career starts and has 73 career double-digit scoring games.

• Sophomore Paige Kohler and fifth-year Falcon Lexi Fleming have 13.2 and 12.7 ppg, respectively. Kohler also has 4.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game, and has made a team-leading 60 three-point field goals. She flirted with a triple-double in the win at Ohio, with 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and had a 28-point, seven-board, seven-assist performance vs. Akron. Kohler is fourth in the MAC in minutes (34.50 mpg) and fifth in the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.57).

• 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 34 triples in her 18 games to date, and has 3.4 assists and 2.4 steals per game to rank second on the team in both categories.

• Fifth-year collegian Erika Porter is averaging 9.9 ppg, and has a team-leading 5.6 rpg. Porter also leads the Falcons and is third in the MAC in field-goal pct. (53.4%).

• Freshman Lauren Gerken has 7.2 ppg and 4.6 rpg, while classmate Johnea Donahue is also scoring 7.2 ppg after averaging 15.3 ppg over the last three games. Donahue leads BGSU and is second in the MAC with 2.45 steals per game.

• Sophomores Keiryn McGuff and Taya Ellis are averaging 4.6 and 3.9 ppg, respectively. McGuff also has 4.2 rpg, and scored in double figures in three-straight games to begin MAC play. Ellis has 4.7 rpg on the season, ranking second on the team, and she leads BGSU with 0.8 blocks per game. Junior Kendal Moxey has 3.2 ppg and has gone 30-for-58 (51.7%) from the floor.

• In MAC play, Kohler (14.5 ppg), Fleming (14.2) and Velasco (13.2) all have scored between 171 and 188 points in the 13 games to date. Porter and Kohler have 5.2 and 4.3 rpg, respectively, while Velasco (4.2 apg), Kohler (3.5) and Fleming (also 3.5) all are averaging over three assists per game vs. conference competition.

• Fleming leads the entire MAC in steals in conference games (2.77), and she (1.96), Kohler (1.92) and Velasco (1.86) rank fourth through sixth, respectively, in assist/turnover ratio.

• 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 19 successful triples in 2024-25 to date, and set career-high minutes totals in the back-to-back wins at Ohio (24:09) and Northern Illinois (26:02).

• 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 ROCKETS
• Toledo is 19-5 overall, and the Rockets are 10-3 in MAC play. UT has won seven-straight games heading into Saturday night's showdown at the Stroh. Most recently, the Rockets became the first MAC team to beat league-leading Ball State, with a 70-66 win over the Cardinals on Wednesday night (Feb. 19).

• Toledo is 11-1 in home games, 6-3 in road matches and 2-1 in neutral-site contests this season to date. In MAC play, the Rockets are 6-1 at home and 4-2 on the road.

• Sammi Mikonowicz leads the team in both scoring and rebounding, with 13.4 ppg and 6.3 rpg, while Khera Goss and Kendall Carruthers average 11.6 and 11.0 ppg, respectively. Carruthers leads the Rockets in assists (2.8 apg), while Goss has hit a team-high 33 three-point field goals.

• Head coach Ginny Boggess, in her first season with the Rockets, has eight returning players, including three starters, from last year's team that finished 28-6 overall and 17-1 in the MAC. UT won the conference regular-season title and advanced to the WBIT in 2023-24.

THE SERIES
• The Falcons lead Toledo, 45-44, in the all-time series, but the Rockets have won the last five meetings, including this season's first matchup. UT took an 80-68 decision in the Glass City last month (Jan. 25, 2025), despite a game-high 23 points by Lexi Fleming. UT swept last season's two games, including an 88-68 outcome at the Stroh Center (Feb. 17, 2024), in the teams' last get-together in Wood County. BGSU's last series win was an 88-76 home triumph two years ago (Jan. 18, 2023).

BGSU is 22-15 at home, 15-25 on the road and 8-4 in neutral-site meetings with the Rockets through the years. Additional series information can be found elsewhere in these very notes.

DOWN THE ROAD
• Following the UT game, the Falcons will close the February schedule by hosting Ohio on Wednesday night (Feb. 26). That game begins at 7:00 p.m., and it will be Senior Night at the Stroh.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will head to the MAC's "West Coast" next weekend, facing Northern Illinois in DeKalb on Saturday, March 1. That contest is set to begin at 1:00 p.m. local time (2:00 p.m. ET).

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.