An afternoon where BGSU women’s basketball (16-12, 9-7 MAC) found themselves in the driver’s seat for the majority of the game—a fourth-quarter comeback by the Northern Illinois Huskies (13-15, 6-10 MAC) followed by two overtime periods where the Huskies completed their comeback against the Falcons.
The Falcons won each of the first three quarters, outscoring the Huskies 16-4 in the first, 19-11 in the second, and 19-16 in the third. But it was the final quarter where NIU outscored BG 23-10 to force the game into overtime at 64-64 from a last-second tip-in by Chelby Koker.
Nothing could separate the two teams after the first overtime period, tied at 70 apiece after a travel call on senior Amy Velasco, head coach Fred Chmiel received a technical foul and then was ejected with 13.8 seconds left remaining in the game. Koker then hit four free throws to ice the game.
Positives for Bowling Green were freshman guard Johnea Donahue leading the Orange and Brown with a team-high 18 points and six rebounds. Right behind her was sophomore Paige Kohler, who scored 17 points and recorded six rebounds and three assists.
Velasco put up 16 points and dished out five assists. Fifth-year forward Erika Porter was a rebound shy of a double-double, with 12 points and nine rebounds.
For the Huskies, Koker finished the game with a game-high 28 points. Freshman Lexi Carlsen had 19 points, hitting four 3-pointers. Sidney McCrea contributed 13 points and also pulled down seven rebounds.
The first quarter went back and forth, but Bowling Green was able to stifle a 5-0 NIU run with a Kohler three-pointer to end the first. In the second, the Falcons used an explosive offensive start to extend their lead to double figures. Going into halftime with a 35-25 lead.
Coming out of halftime, Bowling Green kept NIU at arm’s length, with their largest lead of the game at 21 during the third quarter.
In the fourth, NIU shot 10 for 13 from the floor, while the Falcons went on a scoreless run for over five minutes, shooting five for 14 and zero for four on three-pointers.
In the first overtime period, defensive play was efficient for both the Falcons and Huskies, each scoring six points to force double-overtime, But in the end, a chaotic ending with technical fouls on Bowling Green, and NIU going 10-10 from the charity stripe was enough to snap the Orange and Brown’s five-game winning streak.
The Falcons will look to put this one behind them, as they return home on Wednesday, March 5, in their final regular-season home game against Kent State (19-10, 11-5 MAC).
Falcon Media Sports Network will have live coverage of the broadcast starting at 6:45 for pregame and tipoff at 7:00 p.m.
