Saturday’s Women’s Basketball Results
Bowling Green 79, Arkansas 78
Toledo 58, Navy 51
Buffalo 74, St. Bonaventure 46
Portland 68, Central Michigan 58
Stories Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Bowling Green 79, Arkansas 78
Box Score
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Erika Porter's layup with eight seconds remaining lifted the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team to a 79-78 win over the University of Arkansas Saturday afternoon (Nov. 30). The game, part of the Daytona Beach Classic, was held at the Ocean Center.
Sophomore Paige Kohler made seven three-point field goals for the Falcons (4-4), falling just one triple shy of the school record. Kohler, who led BGSU with 25 points, was a perfect 6-of-6 from the arc over the last three quarters and went 7-for-9 from long distance on the day.
Porter scored 18 points, while senior Amy Velasco added 17, with each player making a go-ahead layup late in the contest. The game featured nine lead changes, including four in the final 30 seconds of the fourth quarter.
Izzy Higginbottom led the Razorbacks (4-5) with 26 points, with Jenna Lawrence adding 21 points and a game-high five blocked shots.
BGSU led for just 13 seconds of the game's first 34 minutes, and Arkansas led by as many as 14 points early in the third quarter. But, the Falcons took the lead on a Kohler trey with 5:55 remaining in the game, and after the lead changed hands several times, a long three-pointer by redshirt sophomore Jasmine Fearne gave the Orange and Brown a four-point advantage, 74-70, with 2:42 to go.
Then, however, neither team scored until 1:12 remained, when Kiki Smith knocked down a three-point try. The Razorbacks got a stop, and Higginbottom made a pair of free throws with 30 seconds to go, giving her team a 75-74 lead.
After BGSU used a timeout, Velasco drove and converted an 'and-one' layup, sinking the free throw for a 77-75 BG lead with 26 seconds on the clock. The Hogs took time, and the resulting possession saw Lawrence hit her fifth three-pointer of the game to put her team back up by a point.
The Falcons called time with 12 seconds remaining, and Fearne got the ball inside to Porter for a layup with eight seconds left. It was the Razorbacks' turn to use a timeout, and on the ensuing play, a Lawrence three-point attempt was off the mark, and freshman Lauren Gerken grabbed the rebound as the final buzzer sounded.
The Falcons shot 47.1 percent from the floor in the win, including an 18-of-29 (62.1%) effort in the second half. BGSU went 7-for-10 from three-point range in the second half, and shot 47.6% (10-of-21) from long range on the day.
Toledo 58, Navy 51
Box Score
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Sammi Mikonowicz scored a career-high 27 points to lead the Toledo women's basketball team to a 58-51 victory against Navy in the Navy Thanksgiving Classic at the United States Naval Academy on Saturday.
The Rockets (4-1) finished off a wire-to-wire victory for their third-straight win, building a double-digit lead in the first quarter and fending off several comeback attempts, sending Navy (6-1) to its first defeat.
Mikonowicz dazzled by making 10-of-12 from the field, including the first nine points of the contest. She added 10 rebounds to record her first double-double of the season and 15th of her career. Graduate student Hannah Noveroske chipped in 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting and classmate Khera Goss added eight points, all in the second half.
The Rockets totaled 59 rebounds as a team for a +21 rebounding margin, let by graduate student Nan Garcia with 11, one shy of her career high, and a career-high nine caroms from Cadence Dykstra. All told, 10 different Rockets collected a least one rebound on the day. Goss and sophomores Kendall Carruthers and Ella Weaver each led Toledo with two assists on the day.
The Rockets held Navy to just 28.0% (21-for-75) from the field, the lowest shooting percentage for a Rocket opponent since Feb. 21, 2024 against Miami (25.5%).
Buffalo 74, St. Bonaventure 46
Box Score
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo women's basketball team dominated from start to finish in a 74-46 wire-to-wire victory over St. Bonaventure at Alumni Arena on Saturday afternoon.
With the victory, the Bulls complete the Big 4 sweep for the second straight year and move to 7-0 on the season for the first time since 2016.
Four Bulls scored in double figures, led by Chellia Watson who scored a game-high 15 points. Sophomore Paula Lopez had a breakthrough performance with a career-high 13 points to go with a career-best seven assists and fellow sophomore Kirsten Lewis-Williams stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Terah Harness also scored in double figures for the third straight game with 11 points while Alexis Davis narrowly missed out on a double-double with 9 points and 11 rebounds.
It was a defensive battle early as the Bulls led 6-2 at the first media timeout. The Bulls extended their lead to five off a beautiful wraparound pass from Noelani Cornfield to a backdoor cutting Lopez. The Bonnies ended the run with a corner triple, but UB continued to attack as Lopez hit Ariana Seawell on the block and she finished off glass to put the Bulls up 15-9 at the end of the first.
Watson put her defender in the spin cycle for a layup off glass on UB's first possession of the second quarter before the Bonnies responded with a 5-0 run to cut the lead to three. Watson then scored on back-to-back possessions as the Bulls maintained a 22-18 lead at the media timeout. The visitors would pull within two before Buffalo rattled off a 10-2 run, including a pair of corner triples from Harness, to go up by 11 and they would lead 35-28 at the half.
The Bulls offense to start the third quarter as they put together a 10-0 run in less than two minutes, capped by a pair of triples from Lewis-Williams and Lopez and an offensive rebound putback by Davis, to go up 44-28 and force a timeout at the 7:51 mark. Buffalo continued to attack as they extended the run to 17-2 on a pair of great post-up layups by Seawell, to take a 51-30 lead at the media timeout. Seawell continued to stay aggressive as she powered up for another bucket inside before Lopez drilled a three from the top of the key and Watson skied up for an offensive rebound and beat the buzzer with the putback to give the Bulls a 58-33 lead at the end of the third.
Lewis-Williams got to the rack for a layup before she hit Lopez for a fastbreak layup and Harness drained a triple from the wing to give UB a 67-38 lead at the final media timeout and the Bonnies would get no closer as the Bulls cruised to victory.
Buffalo dominated the paint, owning a 38-18 advantage inside, while also winning the glass for the second straight game, including 11 offensive rebounds which they turned into 15 second chance points. The Bulls continue to turn their opponents over as they forced the Bonnies into 23 turnovers, scoring 25 points off those miscues, while also adding 17 fastbreak points.
