Defense was the name of the game for BGSU women’s basketball in their 70-55 win over Central Michigan at the Stroh Center on Saturday.
“I think the energy aspect (sparked the defense),” sophomore guard Paige Kohler said postgame. “I mean, we had energy on the bench, on the floor.”
In fact, defense may have been the best offensive weapon for the Falcons. Bowling Green forced 19 turnovers, scoring 27 points off CMU’s mistakes.
“We were really defensively focused. Defense created our offense in a big way for us, especially in the first half,” BGSU assistant coach Maggie Lucas said postgame on WBGU 88.1 FM. “27 points off turnovers; that really stands out to me.”
Nearly every player for the Falcons had a part in creating turnovers.
Freshman guard Johnea Donahue led the Falcons with five steals, senior guard Lexi Fleming tallied four steals and sophomore guard Paige Kohler finished with a steal. Kohler, Donahue, Fleming, senior forward Erika Porter and sophomore forward Taya Ellis all added a block.
BGSU’s defense was especially dominant in the first quarter.
The Falcons held the Chippewas to just 10 points on 33.3% (5-15) shooting from the field and 0-3 from deep, leading by 10 points after the first 10 minutes.
“It got us our separation, kind of set the tone for the game,” BGSU head coach Fred Chmiel said postgame. “I thought it was defensively.”
A major key to BG’s success was limiting the impact of freshman guard Madi Morson and senior guard Jess Lawson.
Morson and Lawson were held to just two points scored in the first quarter and seven points combined in the entire first half.
“We kind of held Morson and Lawson in check,” Chmiel said. “We didn’t give them any easy buckets, they had to work for everything, which kind of set the tone defensively.”
The Falcons ended the first half on a 14-0 run, which was fueled by defense and gave the Orange and Brown a 20-point advantage heading into halftime.
“I just thought we got some great momentum, and it was off our defense. We pressed a little bit and got some turnovers, sped them up,” Chmiel said. “I thought defensively in the first half we were pretty good.”
Although Bowling Green did was not as dominant defensively in the second half compared to the first 20 minutes of the contest, the Falcons still held Central Michigan to just 43.1% shooting (22-51) from the field and 15.4% (2-13) on 3-pointers throughout the entire game.
Next, the Orange and Brown will hit the road to battle Western Michigan in Kalamazoo on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Falcon Media Sports Network’s Lucas Kleimeyer and Kaden Knapp will have the call on WBGU 88.1 FM, beginning at 6:45 p.m. for pregame.
