Women's Basketball

Five WBB Squads Open New Season with MAC-SBC Challenge Victories

Monday’s WBB MAC-SBC Challenge Results 
Miami 63, Coastal Carolina 53
UMass 58, Old Dominion 52
Bowling Green 82, Louisiana 67
Ohio 72, Texas State 66
Ball State 68, Arkansas State 66
Marshall 53, Buffalo 39
James Madison 80, Kent State 48
Georgia Southern 98, Central Michigan 72
App State 65, Western Michigan 45
Southern Miss 77, Northern Illinois 56
Troy 88, Toledo 51
ULM 80, Eastern Michigan 71
South Alabama 87, Akron 63
Stories Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments 

Miami 63, Coastal Carolina 53
Box Score
The Miami University women's basketball team connected on 12 three pointers and forced 25 turnovers in a 63-53 win over Coastal Carolina to open the 2025-26 season. Tamar Singer led the way with 16 points and Amber Scalia added 15 points in her Miami debut.

How it Happened:
  • Coastal Carolina opened the contest on a 5-0 run, but a bucket from Amber Tretter ended the Miami drought. After the Chanticleers made it 7-2, the RedHawks answered with a 7-0 run, capped by a triple from Scalia for a 9-7 Miami lead midway through the first quarter. Coastal responded with a 9-2 run to take their largest lead of the opening quarter, 16-11, and led 18-14 after 10 minutes of play.
  • Both teams went scoreless for the first four minutes of the second quarter, before a three pointer from Clara Gonzalez Planella made it a one-point game. After CCU made a triple of their own, Singer's three pointer pulled the RedHawks to within 21-20 at the midway point of the second. Miami reclaimed the lead with eight points in 75 seconds, including back-to-back threes from Scalia and Núria Jurjo, to make it 28-21. Mio Sakano's corner triple made it 31-22 and Tretter and Singer chipped in buckets in the final minute to send Miami to the locker room with a 35-22 advantage.
  • Scalia opened the second half with a layup and after CCU made a free throw, Ilse de Vries connected on a triple to spot Miami a 17-point advantage. Both teams exchanged buckets, but a Scalia three pointer gave Miami a 45-27 cushion. Singer's three-pointer spotted the RedHawks their largest lead of the game, 50-29 with 2:12 left in the third, before the Chanticleers closed the third on a 10-0 run.
  • The CCU run continued into the fourth quarter, cutting Miami's advantage to 50-44 with 6:29 left in the contest. Jurjo's three pointer extended the lead to nine, 53-44, but a 6-0 CCU run made it 53-49 midway through the final stanza. Following the media timeout, Singer extended the advantage to seven with her third triple of the game. Moments later she split a pair of defenders to find an open Jurjo for another triple, spotting the Red and White a comfortable 10-point advantage to walk out with the road victory. 
  • Game Notes:
  • Coastal Carolina had won 20-straight home openers before the Miami victory.
  • Jurjo had a career-high three buckets from behind the arc.
  • The RedHawks connected on 12 three pointers, which matched last season's high versus George Washington. This was the most three pointers by a Miami team since the RedHawks drilled 13 back on Nov. 17, 2021 at Xavier.
  • Six new RedHawks saw action in Monday's win.
UMass 58, Old Dominion 52
Box Score
AMHERST, Mass. -- University of Massachusetts women's basketball (1-0, 0-0 MAC) earned a 58-52 win over Old Dominion University (0-1, 0-0 SBC) on Monday night at Chartway Arena. The Minutewomen gained the advantage early in the first and did not let up for the rest of the contest, leading by as many as 18 points throughout the game.

Sophomore guard Yahmani McKayle led the way for the Minutewomen, putting up 14 points against the Monarchs, while adding four assists and five rebounds on the night.

Fellow sophomore guard Ayanna Franks had a standout night, as well, tallying a career-high eight rebounds in the contest to go along with nine points and four assists. 

Breaking Down The Action
  • Allie Palmieri gained UMass' first possession with a defensive rebound 27 seconds into the contest
  • Palmieri started off the scoring for UMass at the top of the three-point line at 7:21
  • The Minutewomen went on a 14-0 run to start the first half 
  • Mckayle scored her first points of the season with a jumper at 6:22 in the first quarter
  • Chinenye Odenigbo gave UMass the first lead of the game with a layup at 5:44 in the first
  • A three-pointer by Lilly Ferguson put UMasss up 12-5 with 3:22 left on the quarter
  • Megan Olbrys extended the lead to 14-5 with a layup at 1:40 in the first
  • Aiyanna Perkins finished the scoring with a layup with 40 seconds left in the quarter
  • UMass maintained the lead throughout the first quarter, ending with an 18-9 lead. 
  • McKayle continued to up the ante with a three-point jumper 50 seconds into the second 
  • An Old Dominion personal foul at 5:32 caused UMass to convert with a free throw by Ayanna Franks
  • Ferguson made a jumper at 2:41 to put UMass at a 27-15 advantage
  • Alisha Nunley scored a jumper, putting ODU up to 19 with 1:23 left in the half
  • UMass continued to control the game ending the first half 27-19
  • Ferguson capitalized off a personal foul from ODU's Riley Stack, making two free throws 2:46 into the second half
  • UMass went on a 12-point run with McKayle, Perkins, Palmieri, and Olbrys contributing to the point total within four minutes
  • UMass finished the third quarter 42-30
  • After a slow start for the Minutewomen, Odenigbo made a layup off opponent turnover at 6:38 in the final quarter
  • Odenigbo continued to command the UMass scoring with a free throw 40 seconds later
  • Odenigbo continued the effort with another layup at 4:24 left in the final quarter
  • ODU crept up on UMass scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter 
  • Franks knocked down two free throws on a personal foul from ODU
  • McKayle put the lead up 50-46 with 2:45 left in the play
  • Palmieri made another three-point jumper to give UMass a 55-48 lead
  • Olbrys scored a layup adding up to a seven-point lead for the Minutewomen
  • With 15.4 seconds left on the clock ODU called for a timeout 
  • Franks made a pair of free throws, ending the game with a 58-52 UMass victory

Bowling Green 82, Louisiana 67
Box Score
LAFAYETTE, La. – The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team began the second half on a 9-0 run to take control on Monday night (Nov. 3), as the Falcons went on to defeat the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 82-67. The game, part of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge, was held at the Cajundome.

Paige Kohler led all players with 18 points in the regular-season opener for both teams, while Lauren Gerken had a double-double, with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Taya Ellis also had 11 points and pulled down seven boards, while Johnea Donahue and Ky'Aira Miller had nine points apiece.

BGSU scored on the first four possessions of the second half to turn a two-point halftime lead into a double-digit advantage. The lead stayed between eight and 11 points for most of the remainder of the third period, before a Miller three-pointer put the Falcons ahead by 13 in the final minute.

In the fourth quarter, the lead grew as high as 20 points on two Kohler free throws with 4:16 to go. The Ragin' Cajuns responded with nine-straight points, but Miller hit a pair of free throws, then hit a layup to put BG back up by 15.

Amijah Price led the hosts with 17 points, while Mikayla Manley scored 15 and Jazmyne Jackson 13.

The Falcons shot 52 percent from the field in the win, going 27-for-52. BGSU overcame a 22-turnover night by getting to the free-throw line as well as forcing UL into 20 turnovers of their own.

Led by Kohler's 12-of-14 performance, BGSU was 23-of-29 from the line, while the Cajuns went 7-for-14.

A total of 12 players saw action for the Falcons in the win, with 11 finding the scoresheet. BG had advantages in rebounding (36-34), points in the paint (44-34) and bench scoring (34-26).

Ohio 72, Texas State 66
Box Score
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Ohio women's basketball team (1-0, 0-0 MAC) defeated Texas State (0-1, 0-0 SBC) 72-66 in a scrappy battle on Monday, Nov. 3.
 
Ohio shot 42.6 percent from the field, 25.0 percent from the arc and 67.9 percent from the line. The Bobcats finished with 30 rebounds, 13 assists, three blocks and 17 steals.
 
Ohio found most of its success under the basket and on transition. The Bobcats scored 30 points in the paint and 28 points off turnovers.
 
Graduate student Elli Garnett (Golden, Colo.) led the team in scoring with 20 points; shooting 6-for-9 from the field, 3-for-6 from the arc and 5-for-6 from the line. Junior Asiah Baxter (Indianapolis, Ind.) was Ohio's top rebounder of the night. Baxter grabbed six rebounds and scored 13 points. Junior Bailey Tabeling (Seymour, Ind.) recorded a team-high four assists and four steals.
 
The game was close from the start with both teams being tied at 16-16 at the end of the first quarter. Ohio has a strong second quarter, outscoring Texas State 22-13. Ohio led Texas State 38-29 heading into the locker room.
 
Texas State answered back in the third quarter with 17 points and limited Ohio to only eight during the 10 minute period. At the end of the third quarter, the two teams were tied at 46-46.
 
Ohio bounced back from the third quarter. The Bobcats dropped 26 points in the fourth quarter to win the game 72-66.
 

Ball State 68, Arkansas State 66
Box Score
JONESBORO, Ark. - The Ball State women's basketball team (1-0) opened the 2025-26 season with a 68-66 victory at Arkansas State (0-1) Monday night in First National Bank Arena. 

The physicality of tonight's contest helped the Cardinals earn the win as BSU outrebounded the Red Wolves, 52-39. 

Ball State placed three in double-digit scoring led by Grace Kingery with 15 while Karsyn Norman chipped in 14 points and Zhen Verburgt tallied 13. Defensively, the Cardinals were led by Bree Salenbien with 12 rebounds.

Salenbien and Kingery hit back-to-back shots to put the Cardinals up 5-0 in the opening minutes of the ball game. This new deck of Cards came out of the gates strong shooting 47 percent from the field (7-15) while pulling down 19 rebounds to take a 20-9 edge over the Red Wolves after the first quarter. 

The second period was offensively slower for Ball State. A three-minute scoring drought was snapped after Verburgt hit a three-pointer to make the score 25-13 with just under six minutes left in the half. The Red Wolves continued to chomp at the heels of the Cardinals throughout the second 10 minutes of play. Although, the Red Wolves outpaced the Cardinals 12-9 in the second frame Ball State was able to hold onto a 29-21 lead over Arkansas State at intermission. 

A driving layup from Norman to start the second half gave BSU the spark to string together an 11-6 run that gave the Cardinals a 13-point cushion (40-27) at the 6:23 mark. The run was capped off by a fast break layup from Alba Caballero. 

Shortly after, Arkansas State answered with a 17-4 scoring spree of its own to end the third frame with a tie, 44-44.

The Red Wolves had built an 8-point advantage (52-44) over the Cardinals by the fourth quarter media timeout.  Aniss Tagayi, Verburgt, Salenbien and Norman all contributed to the Cardinals coming back and knotting the score again 58-58 with 2:23 on the clock. 

After that, both teams swapped blows the remainder of the final frame. But Ball State was able to go up 64-60 after a 3-pointer from Verburgt with 1:39 left to play. Norman closed out the contest with some crucial free throws that would inevitably seal tonight's victory for Ball State.