BGSU women’s basketball (7-4) earned its sixth straight win, defeating the Le Moyne Dolphins (1-9) by a final score of 74-46 on a School Day game at the Stroh Center, extending its unbeaten streak at home to 5-0.
“I thought we did a decent job, got a little away from us in the fourth quarter, but other than that I thought we played pretty well,” said head coach Fred Chmiel postgame. “But all in all, I think it’s a good, tough opponent to prepare us for what lies ahead.”
The Falcons were without sophomore guard Johnea Donahue for the second straight game and junior forward Taya Ellis, who suffered a knock in their last outing against Lourdes. Junior forward Jaedyn Cook earned her first start for the Orange and Brown.
Chmiel provided an update on the status of Ellis and Donahue, with each team’s status uncertain for the conference opener.
“It’s a pain threshold, so we’ll see,” said Chmiel. “I think they want to play, I don’t think there is a lack of want there, they’ve got to be pain free…we got to make sure our players are healthy and ready to go.”
Leading the way in scoring yet again for the Falcons was junior guard Paige Kohler, who recorded a game high 17 points off of 7-16 shooting and knocking down three triples. Two other players finished in double figures with redshirt-junior Jasmine Fearne getting 11 points on 3-9 shooting from three, and senior guard Kaia Woods with 11 as well, leading the team in assists (seven), rebounds (five), and steals (three).
Bowling Green shot 44% from the floor, going 26-59 while also draining 10-39 3-pointers. At the charity stripe, the Falcons went 12-20 and outrebounded the Dolphins by one, 34-33.
Le Moyne, led by former BGSU assistant coach Nick DiPillo, suffered its ninth loss of the season and its eighth straight. Moving to a 1-7 record away from Ted Grant Court.
Forward Ashley Buragas was the only Dolphin to get to double-digits in scoring with 13 points. As a team, they went 17-49 for just 34% shooting from the floor. The Dolphins didn’t find much more success from beyond the arc, going 3-17.
Le Moyne went on a 7-3 run early in the first quarter, but ended up being held scoreless in the final two minutes by the Falcon defense. Bowling Green shot 50% on 7-14 shooting with Kohler leading the way with 11 points in the first 10 minutes of action, as the Orange and Brown took a 20-12 lead over the Dolphins heading into the second.
Despite a scoreless drought to start the second quarter, the Falcons held Le Moyne to just 11 points in the quarter while scoring 19 of their own with 13 off Dolphin turnovers. Heading into halftime, BG led by 16, their largest lead of the half, 39-23.
In the first 20 minutes of action, Le Moyne was 10-24 from the floor and just 2-9 from three. On the other side, Bowling Green was 13-29 and 5-17 from beyond the arc. The rebounding battle was tight, with a slight Dolphin advantage, 17-15.
All 11 of Kohler’s first-half points came in the first quarter, which was a game high, while Buragas led the Dolphins with seven points in the first half.
The Falcons extended their lead into the third, outscoring the Dolphins 19-10 while making three triples and getting 17 of their 19 points from their bench. Le Moyne was held to just 25% shooting from the floor in the third, going 3-12.
At the start of the fourth quarter, the Falcons led by 25, 58-33, leading to Chmiel going deep into his bench to give the starting five a rest. Bowling Green kept their foot on the gas, winning the fourth quarter 16-13 on 6-11 shooting to close out another win at home.
Up next, the Falcons will begin Mid-American Conference (MAC) play and close out their six-game homestand by hosting the MAC preseason favorites, the Kent State Golden Flashes (5-6), at the Stroh Center on Saturday, Dec. 20.
“There’s not one game that you can relax and take for granted in the MAC. At any given time, you can take a loss,” said Chmiel. “Our charge is to make sure that we’re prepared and we know that it’s going to be a long journey, but a rewarding one if we do the right things.”
Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m., Falcon Media Sports Network’s Lucas Kleimeyer and Trey Kennedy will have the call on WBGU 88.1 FM. Full coverage of the game can be found on bgfalconmedia.com.
