BGSU women’s basketball (10-9, 3-5) hopes to end its three-game winless streak as it welcomes in the Akron Zips (3-16, 0-7), who come into the Stroh Center looking for its first Mid-American Conference (MAC) win of the season.
Falcon Media Sports Network’s Trey Kennedy and Carter Leonard will have the call on WBGU 88.1 FM at 7 p.m. Sam Bork and PJ Aubry will have the pregame show starting at 6:35 p.m.
This game will serve as the return of two familiar faces, one on each side. The Falcons’ senior guard Kaia Woods will face her former team, where she spent two seasons. While Akron junior forward Keiryn McGuff returns to Bowling Green after she played two seasons under head coach Fred Chmiel.
SERIES HISTORY
Wednesday night will be the 76th all-time meeting between the two programs, as the Falcons have dominated the series against the Zip 61-14. The last Akron win came during the 2021-2022 season when they defeated BG in the MAC Tournament quarterfinals, 81-67.
Chmiel is 3-0 against the Zips during his tenure, including winning the last meeting 82-69 at the Stroh Center last season.
BOWLING GREEN
After suffering a last-second 65-64 loss to UMass on the road, the Falcons will return home looking to get their first home win since the MAC opener against Kent State on Dec. 20, 2025.
The good news for the Orange and Brown is their last outing was their best shooting percentage since their game against Lourdes on Dec. 14, 2025. Bowling Green went 45.5% from the floor, and also made seven 3-pointers to go along with a 35% mark beyond the arc.
Junior forward Taya Ellis put up a career high 20 points and was one rebound shy of a double-double. She shot a perfect 9-9, which marked the third-best field goal percentage in a game in program history. It’s also good news that Sophomore forward Lauren Gerken hit four 3-pointers in her season-high 18-point performance, while also grabbing five rebounds.
The Falcons currently sit in eighth place in the MAC standings, tied with Eastern Michigan at 3-5. A win for Bowling Green against Akron would give the Orange and Brown their first win in two weeks.
AKRON
The Zips are not only still in search of their first conference win, but also their first victory since Dec. 21 against Le Moyne. Since that game, Akron has suffered seven straight contests, all coming against MAC foes.
Most recently, Akron fell 74-53 to Central Michigan at home, which gave them their sixth home loss of the season. With a 0-9 road record, the Zips haven’t won a road game since Jan. 11, 2025, against Eastern Michigan.
So far this season, McGuff has 9.1 points per game (PPG) and a team-high 5.1 rebounds per game (RPG), starting all 17 games. Leading the team in scoring for Akron is sophomore forward Ni’Rah Clark, averaging 12 PPG and 5.5 RPG. Right behind her in scoring is Monique Mitchell, who is averaging just under 10 PPG at 9.8.
Akron head coach Ryan Gensler is in his third season with the Zips, and has returned seven players, including four starters from last season’s team that went 10-21 overall and just 4-13 in MAC play.
FALCON FOUR PLAYERS TO WATCH
#1 Kaia Woods – Senior Guard, Bowling Green
If you take away the Ohio game, Woods has started 11 straight games for the Falcons. In those starts, Woods has recorded double-digit points in five of those games, which include four Falcon victories.
#10 Paige Kohler – Junior Guard, Bowling Green
Kohler put up 12 points in Bowling Green’s last outing against UMass, and she still leads the team in scoring with 13.7 PPG. The Preseason All-MAC First Team selection and newest member of the 1,000 points club is looking move up the program charts in scoring, and can do so with a high-scoring performance against the Zips.
#33 Ni’Rah Clark – Sophomore Forward, Akron
Despite only starting 15 games this season, Clark not only leads the team in scoring but is also second on the team in total rebounding with 99 on the year. She scored just five points in her last game against Central Michigan, but before that, she put up 22 against Kent State and 25 against UMass.
#8 Shaena Brew – Freshman Guard, Akron
Brew is the only Zip to start all 19 games, averaging 9.1 PPG and 3.8 RPG. Above all, she has dished out the most assists for Akron this season with 67 total, and she’s tied with the most steals on the team with 17.
