It is not often that the number one ranked team in the country comes into your building and plays you as a mid-major school.
Call Bowling Green lucky then… except for on the scoreboard.
“Coming into this game, we had to pick our poison,” said BGSU head coach Fred Chmiel. “We had to choose what we wanted to give up because you can’t take everything away from a team like that. We didn’t execute properly in the zone defense.”
Using a hot 10/10 shooting start from the field, as well as a significant size advantage, #1 South Carolina cruised their way earlier Tuesday night to a 93-62 win over Bowling Green.
Starting off the game, the Falcons attempted to utilize a zone defense to slow down the Gamecocks on the offensive end.
Spoiler- Did not work so well.
“I was really surprised he (Chmiel) started off in zone,” said South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley. “I got to give him a hard time about that because if I were a betting woman, I would bet he would play man.”
The 10/10 shooting start for the Gamecocks was paced by five three-pointers within the first five minutes, along with their defensive effort to help build a 13-point lead just midway through the opening quarter.
At the half, BGSU trailed South Carolina 52-31, with senior sharpshooter Morgan Sharps registering 13 of her 25 total points in the contest in the first half.
“I was fine on the bottom of the net,” said Sharps. “My first couple shots felt good and so that makes me want to shoot it even more. My teammates were finding me as well and when one goes in, you just start launching them.”
Launch them indeed, as Sharps hit seven threes in the game, coming up just one field goal short of eight, which was set by Whitney Taylor in 2008.
The second half was indeed another half of struggles for BGSU, as the pesky defense and size/wingspan of the Gamecocks proved to be too much for the smaller Falcons.
“I do think there’s different levels of basketball throughout collegiate basketball, and they’re (SC) at an elite level,” said Chmiel. “There’s a handful of teams every year that can win the national championship; it’s been that way since the dawn of time… no pun intended.”
But overall, the night was filled with fun for fans of the game of basketball.
Why? It was a reunion for starters, as Chmiel had spent eight seasons prior as an assistant coach under Staley at SC.
“Fred’s just a great guy,” said Staley. “He’s a smart coach, disciplined, high energy, and is going to do very well here.”
What else made the night great?
The crowd’s energy.
“It’s big for women’s basketball, it’s big for Stroh,” said Sharps. “I mean we had a great crowd out there and I think that only makes people want to watch women’s basketball and watch our team even more.”
If you are wanting to watch the Falcons again, you can do so on Friday, Dec. 22 at 6 p.m., as the orange and brown make the trip out west to face #15 Indiana in Bloomington. Join Brandon Loe on 88.1 FM WBGU if you cannot, as he has the call from Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall starting at 5:45 p.m.
For more stories related to BGSU Athletics, follow Falcon Media Sports Network on X (@bg_fmsn).
