Bowling Green guard Morgan Sharps (0) celebrates after a teammate makes a three-point shot during the third quarter of a game against Ohio on February 7 at the Stroh Center. Bowling Green defeated Ohio 69-52. (Scott W. Grau|Sentinel-Tribune)
Four members of the Bowling Green State University women’s basketball team were recognized on Tuesday afternoon as the All-Mid-American Conference Team was announced.
Morgan Sharps and Amy Velasco each were named to the All-MAC Second Team, while Erika Porter earned all-conference third-team honors and Paige Kohler was chosen to the MAC All-Freshman Team.
Sharps, a native of Granville, Ohio (Newark), leads the Falcons in scoring, with 15.8 points per game, and three-point field goals made, with 81. Sharps is currently ranked sixth in the nation in three-pointers per game (3.24), and is on pace to break the BGSU single-season record in that category.
She tied the school single-game record by making eight triples against Troy, and is the only player in BG history with four career games of seven or more treys. She averaged 15.6 ppg in MAC games, ranking fifth in the conference, and surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her career in last month’s win at Akron.
Sharps is ranked sixth in BGSU history with 194 career three-pointers made, and is a virtual lock to break the school career record for three-pointers made per game, having made 2.59 treys per contest in her Falcon tenure.
Velasco, who hails from Centerville, Ohio, reached the 1,000-point mark for her career on Saturday. She has started all 29 games, and leads the Falcons in minutes played (35.3 per game) while ranking second on the team in scoring, with 14.4 ppg.
Velasco has scored 20 or more points five times this season, including a career-high 32-point outburst in a win at Northern Illinois. The junior paces the Falcons – and ranks second in the MAC – with 4.9 assists per game, and also leads BGSU in three-point accuracy (41.3%; 43-of-104).
She averaged 15 points and 5.3 assists in MAC games, leading the league in the latter category while ranking seventh in the former. She finished fourth in the MAC in free-throw percentage in conference games (85.9%). Velasco ranks 10th in BGSU history in career assists (342) and is seventh on the school’s assists-per-game list (3.45).
Porter, a native of West Windsor, N.J. (Notre Dame), is averaging 12.3 points and a team-leading 6.7 rebounds per game in her first season as a Falcon.
The Baylor transfer leads the MAC and currently ranks second in the entire nation in field-goal percentage, having made 66.5% of her attempts this year to date. She is on pace to set a new BGSU single-season record – and a new MAC record – in that category.
In conference games only, Porter shot a league-best 68.2% from the field. She shattered that BGSU record and fell just shy of breaking the conference mark (68.9%). Porter has seven double-doubles this season, with all seven coming in MAC play.
She has had seven games with 20 points or more, including four in the last eight contests. Porter, who was a perfect 10-for-10 from the field in BGSU’s second regular-season meeting with Buffalo, owns two of the top eight single-game FG pct. performances in school history. She had 14.7 ppg and 8.7 rpg in MAC games, ranking ninth in the league in scoring and fifth in rebounding.
Kohler, from Olmsted Falls, Ohio, is one of two Falcons to have started all 29 games this season, and she led all MAC freshman in both scoring and assists in conference games. Overall, she is averaging 10.7 points and 3.7 assists per contest, ranking second in the latter category.
Kohler is also second on the team in minutes per game, with 33.2. She scored a career-high 28 points in her first-ever MAC game, a win at Central Michigan, and her total of 14 double-figure scoring games includes 11 in conference play.
In MAC games only, Kohler had 12.3 ppg and 3.6 apg, ranking 13th in the league in scoring and tying for sixth in assists. As mentioned, she led all freshmen in both categories, and she also paced MAC frosh in free-throw pct. (77.8%) and assist/turnover ratio (1.25) in league games, ranking eighth in the league in both categories. Kohler averaged 35.0 minutes per game in MAC matches, ranking sixth overall while once again leading all freshmen.
The Falcons are 16-13 overall, and BGSU finished 10-8 in MAC play. BG was picked to finish fourth in the MAC in the preseason coaches poll. Despite losing an estimated 114 player-games due to injury in 2023-24 to date, the Falcons finished the regular season tied for fourth in the conference.
BG, the number-five seed for the MAC Tournament, will face fourth-seeded Buffalo in Wednesday’s quarterfinal round at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in downtown Cleveland. That game, the second of the day, will begin at approximately 1:30 p.m.
2023-24 MAC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL POSTSEASON AWARDS
Coach of the Year – Tricia Cullop, Toledo
Player of the Year – Sophia Wiard, Fifth-Year, G, Toledo
Defensive Player of the Year – Nyla.Hampton, Junior, G, Ball State
Freshman of the Year – Kirsten Lewis-Williams, G, Buffalo
Sixth Player of the Year – Annie Rauch, Senior, F, Ball State
All-MAC First Team
Ally Becki, Junior, G, Ball State
Chellia Watson, Redshirt Senior, G, Buffalo
Katie Shumate, Redshirt Senior, G, Kent State
Sophia Wiard, Fifth-Year, G, Toledo
Quinesha Lockett, Fifth-Year, G, Toledo
All-MAC Second Team
Reagan Bass, Junior, F, Akron
Nyla.Hampton, Junior, G, Ball State
Amy Velasco, Junior, G, Bowling Green
Morgan Sharps, Fifth-Year, G, Bowling Green
Kaitlyn Zarycki, Graduate, G, Western Michigan
All-MAC Third Team
Madelyn Bischoff, Junior, F, Ball State
Erika Porter, Senior, F, Bowling Green
Jenna Batsch, Junior, F, Kent State
Brooke Stonebraker, Senior, F, Northern Illinois
Sammi Mikonowicz, Senior, G/F, Toledo
All-MAC Honorable Mention
Kirsten Lewis-Williams, Freshman, G, Buffalo
Amber Tretter, Freshman, F, Miami
Jayden Marable, Senior, G, Northern Illinois
Jaya McClure, Sophomore, G, Ohio
Kennedi Watkins, Junior, G, Ohio
MAC All-Freshman Team
Kirsten Lewis-Williams, G, Buffalo
Paige Kohler, G, Bowling Green
Janae Tyler, F, Kent State
Amber Tretter, F, Miami
Bailey Tabeling, G, Ohio
MAC All-Defensive Team
Ally Becki, Junior, G, Ball State
Nyla Hampton, Junior, G, Ball State
Tayra Eke, Junior, C, Eastern Michigan
Katie Shumate, Redshirt Senior, G, Kent State
Kaitlyn Zarycki, Graduate, G, Western Michigan
