Saturday’s Women’s Basketball Results
Miami 72, Ohio 34
Kent State 73, Akron 51
Bowling Green 76, Central Michigan 69
Ball State 61, Western Michigan 51
Buffalo 84, Northern Illinois 58
Toledo 77, Eastern Michigan 49
Stories Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Miami 72, Ohio 34
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio – Enjulina Gonzalez scored 23 points and Maya Chandler added 17 as the RedHawks blew past Ohio University 72-34 on Saturday afternoon inside Millett Hall. The 38-point victory is the largest in 102 meetings between the two schools. Miami snaps a two-game losing streak and improves to 12-8, 5-5 MAC, while OU falls to 4-16, 2-8 MAC.
How it Happened:
- Miami trailed for the first seven minutes of the game before Amber Tretter sank a triple from the corner to spot Miami a 9-6 advantage. The RedHawks held OU scoreless the final three minutes of the quarter to lead 11-6 after 10 minutes of play.
- The RedHawks scored the first nine points of the second (seven from Chandler) to force an Ohio timeout 90 seconds into the second stanza. The Bobcats responded with five-straight points, but Chandler answered with five of her own to maintain the 14-point advantage with four minutes left in the half. Ohio ended the drought with a triple, but buckets from Chandler and Tretter to close the quarter, sent Miami to the locker room up 30-14.
- Miami opened up a 36-14 lead as Gonzalez scored the first six points of the second half. Gonzalez continued the onslaught, scoring 13 of Miami's first 15 points of the quarter, stretching Miami's advantage, 45-24, with four minutes left in the third. A Katey Richason three-point play made it 48-24 and Cori Lard beat the buzzer for a 27-point Miami lead after three quarters of play.
- Ilse de Vries knocked in a triple three minutes into the fourth quarter to make it 58-26. Lakresha Edwards drilled a pair of three pointers late in the contest and Camile Jackson recorded six points and four rebounds in the last four minutes of the game for the 72-34 final score.
Kent State 73, Akron 51
Box Score
KENT, Ohio — In front of alumni from all five decades of Kent State women's basketball history, the Golden Flashes led by as many as 36 en route to a 73-51 victory over rival Akron on Saturday afternoon.
Kent State (15-7, 8-2 MAC) used a 20-0 run over the final 6:26 of the first quarter and opening minute of the second to take control. Trailing 4-2, sophomore Mya Babbitt got the Flashes going with three-pointers on back-to-back possessions. Defensively, Kent State created five turnovers and forced misses on all seven of the Zips' shots without allowing any offensive rebounds during the run.
The Flashes prevented their rival from scoring consecutive baskets during the second period and stretched it to a 39-14 lead at halftime.
Led by 12 points from senior Jenna Batsch, Kent State shot 9-of-11 from the field during the third quarter and held a 66-35 advantage after 30 minutes of action.
Batsch finished with 25 points to lead all scorers. Sophomores Janae Tyler and Babbitt added 14 points and 13 points, respectively. Sophomore Riley Rismiller grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds to lead the Flashes to a 33-28 advantage on the glass.
Kent State has won five Mid-American Conference regular season games in a row by 14 or more points for the first time since the 2001-02 campaign and will next be in action at Northern Illinois on Wednesday, Feb. 5.
Bowling Green 76, Central Michigan 69
Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit, posting a 76-69 win over Central Michigan University on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 1) at McGuirk Arena.
All five starters scored in double digits for the Falcons (11-10, 5-5 Mid-American Conference), who have won two-straight games. Sophomore Paige Kohler had a team-leading 17 points, while Erika Porter had 14 of her 16 points in the second half.
Porter scored nine points in the fourth quarter, matching CMU's team total, and had an assist on arguably the biggest bucket of the game. With under a minute to play and the Falcons leading by a single point, Porter worked down low, drawing several defenders toward her, then kicked the ball out to Kohler for a long three-point attempt that found nothing but net. The shot gave BGSU a 71-67 lead with 42.0 seconds to go, and the Falcons went 5-for-6 from the free-throw line to seal the road win.
Lexi Fleming had 13 points, while Johnea Donahue had 12 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals. Porter also had five rebounds in the win, and she led all players with a +20 plus/minus rating.
Amy Velasco rounded out BGSU's double-digit scorers with 10 points, adding four assists and two blocked shots.
Madi Morson and Jess Lawson combined for 43 points for the Chippewas (8-13, 4-6 MAC). Morson had a game-high 23 points, including 14 of her team's 27 total points in the second half. Lawson had a double-double, with 20 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Central had a 39-26 rebounding advantage, but the Falcons forced 15 turnovers while committing just nine themselves. BGSU had just two second-half turnovers.
Ball State 61, Western Michigan 51
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. - Senior Alex Richard scored 19 of her 23-points in the second half alone to help move the Cardinals past the Broncos Saturday afternoon in Worthen Arena.
Ball State extended its win streak to 12, while remaining undefeated in Mid-American Conference action with their 61-51 defeat over Western Michigan.
With the win, the Cardinals improved to 18-4 on the season and 10-0 in league action while the Broncos dropped to 8-12 on the year and 5-5 in MAC play.
Richard led all players with 23 points and nine rebounds while Ally Becki wrapped up the day with a 17-point performance. Rounding out the double figure scoring was Lachelle Austin with 13. Richard also pulled down her 500th career rebound in the second half of play.
Typically, when Ball State and Western Michigan meet it tends to be a tightly contested first quarter of play. The Broncos opened the contest with an 8-3 run that saw the Cardinals struggling to get their shots to fall while also committing some unforeseen turnovers. A Becki bucket followed by a Richard layup kept the score close with WMU having a 2-point (10-8) edge to end the first quarter of play.
The defensive battle continued, and the Cardinals would struggle inside the paint, having to rely on their long range shot. By the 4:39 mark of the second quarter the game was knotted 17-17. The remainder of the half was an up-and-down affair which saw Ball State take a slight 23-20 edge over Western Michigan at intermission.
After the break, Ball Stat opened the third frame with a 14-0 run to give the Cardinals an impressive 17-point cushion (37-20). Richard took over in the third frame scoring 10 of the 14 points during BSU's run.
The Cardinals half court press was too much for the Broncos to overcome as WMU first field goal came at the 3:41 mark. Ball State's strong second half start led to its 45-34 cushion as both teams headed into the final 10 minutes of play.
Western Michigan wasn't going to go away lightly in the fourth frame, cutting Ball State's once 17-point lead to eight (45-37) with less than a minute shaved off the clock. WMU kept within reach, but BSU would answer with either a basket or a strong defensive play which ultimately led to the Cardinals securing today's victory.
Prior to the contest, the Cardinals presented former women's basketball player Annie Rauch with her 1,000th career point ball. Rauch had achieved the goal in BSU's last regular season game in 2024.
Buffalo 84, Northern Illinois 58
Box Score
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo women's basketball team (19-2, 8-2 MAC) celebrated National Girls & Women in Sports Day with an 84-58 win over Northern Illinois in front of a boisterous crowd at Alumni Arena on Saturday afternoon.
It was a balanced offensive attack with four Bulls in double figures, led by Chellia Watson who scored a game-high 24 points. Fifth year guard Noelani Cornfield stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points, seven rebounds eight assists and five steals and Kirsten Lewis-Williams added 19 points on an efficient 9-of-10 from the floor. Senior forward Jordyn Beaty was also in double figures with a breakthrough performance, scoring a career-high 15 points to go with 11 rebounds for her first double-double of the season.
The Bulls scored on their first possession of the game to spark a 10-2 run, capped by a Sitota Gines corner triple, and UB would lead 10-6 at the first media timeout. Watson got a jumper in the paint to drop but the visitors went on a run to cut the lead to two at the 2:50 mark. Beaty powered up for an offensive rebound putback before Watson drove and finished off glass to put Buffalo up 19-12 but the Huskies closed the quarter on a 7-2 run to pull within two at the end of the first.
The Huskies hit a three on their first possession of the second quarter, but Paula Lopez answered with a triple of her own before Watson converted a midrange jumper from just outside the paint and then came up with a steal and found Lopez up ahead for a fastbreak layup plus the foul to cap a 9-2 run and give the Bulls a 30-24 lead at the media timeout. Lewis-Williams continued to attack as she got to the rim for a layup before knocking down a three on the wing to give the Bulls a double-digit lead at the 2:37 mark. Beaty then skied up for her second offensive rebound putback of the quarter before Watson got a deep paint touch and scored in the final seconds to give Buffalo a 42-33 lead at the half.
After a slow start to the third quarter for both teams, Lewis-Williams pushed the pace in transition and hit Watson for a spot up triple before Cornfield blew by her defender for a layup and then hit Lewis-Williams with a beautiful no look pass to give the Bulls a 51-40 lead at the media timeout. The Bulls extended their run to 9-0 as Cornfield took it coast-to-coast for an and-one bucket before hitting a rim-running Beaty in transition for a fastbreak layup to put UB up 58-40 and force an NIU timeout at the 3:11 mark. Cornfield continued to attack as she scored in the final seconds to cap an 11-point quarter and give the Bulls a 62-42 lead at the end of the third.
Beaty continued to dominate, scoring on the first possession of the fourth quarter and then adding back-to-back layups a couple minutes later to put UB up by 26 and the Huskies would get no closer as the Bulls cruised to victory.
Buffalo dominated in the paint for the third straight game as they doubled up the Huskies inside, 48-24. The Bulls continue to hang their hat on the defensive end of the floor as they forced 18 turnovers, scoring 14 points off those miscues, while also adding a season-best 37 fastbreak points and edging the Huskies on the glass, 37-33.
Toledo 77, Eastern Michigan 49
Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Toledo women's basketball team got off to a strong start to its three-game road trip, taking a 77-49 victory over Eastern Michigan in Mid-American Conference action at the Gervin GameAbove Center in Ypsilanti, Mich. on Saturday.
The Rockets (15-5, 7-3 MAC) held a 34-24 lead at halftime and put the game away with a 21-2 run in the second half. Toledo never trailed against the Eagles (1-19, 0-10 MAC) to earn its third-straight win.
"I'm incredibly proud of our effort on both ends of the floor tonight," said Head Coach Ginny Boggess. "We've been working on our consistency and it was great to see that show up especially on the road. We'll take tomorrow off and enjoy this win because we've got a big week ahead of us."
The Rockets were led by graduate student Sammi Mikonowicz with a game-high 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Mikonowicz scored Toledo's first nine points of the game and had 11 in the first quarter. Sophomore Kendall Carruthers finished with 14 points on 5-of-8 from the field while graduate student Khera Goss, senior Jessica Cook and sophomore Cadence Dykstra each supplied 10 points. Dykstra also led Toledo with four assists while graduate student Nan Garcia dished out three.
On the glass, Dykstra and Mikonowicz each finished with six rebounds while Cook and Carruthers each grabbed four to lead the Rockets to a 36-29 edge on the boards. Garcia picked up two steals on the defensive end to lead the Rockets, who had five thefts overall for the game.
The Eagles were led by Sisi Eleko with 16 points while Olivia Smith added 14 points.
