The Bowling Green State University women’s basketball team is set to face Ball State University on Saturday, February 14, at Worthen Arena in Muncie, Indiana. The Falcons enter the matchup with a 13-11 overall record and a 5-7 mark in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play. Ball State holds a 20-5 record and is 11-1 in conference games.
The game will be streamed on ESPN+, with audio available through Falcon Media Sports. Fans can also follow live statistics and updates via BGSUFalcons.com and the team’s social media channels.
Bowling Green comes into the contest following a 72-61 win over Buffalo. Junior Paige Kohler led the Falcons with a season-high 26 points, making six of seven three-point attempts and grabbing nine rebounds. Sophomore Lauren Gerken contributed 12 points, while senior Kaia Woods added nine points, five rebounds, six assists, and three steals.
Kohler recently surpassed the 1,100-point milestone for her career at Bowling Green. She became the program’s 33rd player to reach 1,000 career points and did so in her 80th game—tied for seventh-fastest in school history. Kohler currently ranks 27th on BGSU’s all-time scoring list with 1,105 points entering the Ball State game.
Defensively, sophomore Johnea Donahue has been a standout for Bowling Green this season. After missing two games due to injury in December, she returned to post several strong performances, including a double-double against Kent State and an eight-steal game versus Kentucky State. Donahue leads the MAC with an average of 3.86 steals per game and ranks fifth nationally in that category. Her total of 85 steals this season places her sixth on BGSU’s single-season chart.
Donahue’s defensive contributions have put her on pace to break both single-season and career records for steals per game at Bowling Green. Last year as a freshman, she recorded 69 steals.
Paige Kohler was named to the Preseason All-MAC First Team ahead of this season by league coaches. Last year she earned All-MAC Honorable Mention honors and was recognized academically as well. This season she leads Bowling Green in scoring (14.4 ppg) and is second in assists (3.1 apg), ranking among conference leaders in multiple categories.
The Falcons have used ten different starting lineups this season due to various circumstances including injuries. Eleven players have started at least one game each; junior Paige Kohler has started all 24 games so far.
Sophomore Lauren Gerken has also made significant contributions since returning from injury last season. She has scored in double figures ten times over the last twelve games and averages 8.4 points along with 4.6 rebounds per contest.
Ball State enters Saturday’s matchup having won five straight games and twelve of their last thirteen outings. The Cardinals are led by Bree Salenbien (15.1 ppg), Tessa Towers (14.6 ppg), and Grace Kingery (12.8 ppg). Head coach Brady Sallee’s squad returned only four players from last year but has maintained strong performance throughout the current campaign.
Historically, Bowling Green leads Ball State in their all-time series, holding a record of 48-28; however, Ball State has won the last two meetings between these teams.
After facing Ball State, Bowling Green will return home for games against Western Michigan on February 18 and Toledo on February 21 at Stroh Center.
