BGSU women’s basketball (10-10, 4-5 MAC) managed to return to form on Wednesday in a mid-week matchup against the Akron Zips (9-12, 3-6 MAC) in a game that saw the Falcons forced 20 Akron turnovers resulting in 25 BGSU points.
“It’s great for us… (to create turnovers), because we don’t have to play in the half-court and when we can do that, we can spread people out, we can get quick shots up and we take good shots, good early shots,” BGSU head coach Fred Chmiel said following the Falcon victory.
The Orange and Brown did indeed take good, early shots as in the first quarter alone BGSU tallied 12 points from three-point range, going 4-12 in the first quarter.
Following a fast start to the match by shooting the ball beyond the arc, the Falcons settled into the paint, creating 28 points from two.
A highlight for BGSU came in the form of sophomore guard Paige Kohler who scored 11 first-half points and 17 second-half points, tying her career high for points in a game.
“I think it started on the defensive end and then once we got stops and were able to push the ball we kinda had that killer mindset and then my teammates found me. We were able to find the hot hand and they kept getting me the ball and setting good screens, it was them getting me open,” Kohler said.
Despite the all-around solid night from the Falcons, Akron managed to stay close for the majority of the contest, hitting a three-point shot as time expired in the first quarter to tie the game 18 all.
A major swing came in the second quarter following a nine-point Zip run where the Orange and Brown held a slim four-point lead and as Akron threatened, redshirt sophomore guard Jasmine Fearne and junior guard Emily Siesel knocked down back-to-back threes to give BGSU their biggest lead of the day at the time, 10.
One huge advantage that BGSU used, was their bench as BG put twelve different Falcons on the court during the game, as well as bringing out a starting lineup of four guards.
“We needed a jumpstart, we needed to change our method of operations, and that’s why we put four guards in the lineup, we just wanted to change tempo a little bit, we did know that they were capable of turning the ball over but the choice was more about us and how we were going to play and how we are going to proceed moving on,” Chmiel said.
As the third quarter progressed the Falcons managed to weather the punches that Akron threw, ultimately stretching the lead to nine, 60-51 heading into the final quarter.
The name of the game in the fourth quarter was consistency as BGSU went 6-9 from the field, scoring four out of five three-point shots. When it came to the charity stripe, BG was calculated, going 6-6 in the fourth and 16-22 on the day.
Ultimately the Falcon victory came from a consistent, aggressive game plan that sought to press the Zips and force them to make mistakes which BG would attempt to capitalize on.
Besides the first quarter, Bowling Green outscored Akron in every quarter, holding a lead for 31 minutes and 27 seconds of the game’s 40 total minutes.
Up next for BG is a road trip to Mount Pleasant where the Falcons will face off against the Central Michigan Chippewas on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 2 p.m.
Falcon Media Sports Network’s Lucas Kleimeyer and Kaden Knapp will have the call on WBGU 88.1 FM starting at 12:45 for pregame.
