BOWLING GREEN — A four-game losing streak has been swiftly washed away by Robyn Fralick and her Bowling Green State University women’s basketball team.
The timing could not be any better for it.
The Falcons returned from Las Vegas at 5-4, having won four games in a row after sweeping their stay in the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic tournament.
The victories have come in dominant fashion. BGSU has out-scored opponents 308-213, and removing the 100-48 win against Division II Notre Dame College, the Falcons have outscored Division I foes Valparaiso, Oakland, and Tennessee Martin by a 208-165 margin.
The tournament in Las Vegas was capped by a 67-52 win over UT Martin, a team which was the top seed in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament last season and was picked fourth in its conference’s poll prior to this season.
“It was a great trip for our team both from an experience perspective and a performance perspective,” Fralick said. “When you can combine those two things, I think so much of the student-athlete experience is getting on those trips. I just continue to see our team look more and more comfortable playing together. That was evident in these two games.”
One of BGSU’s seniors stepped up to lift the team against UT Martin. Kadie Hempfling, who entered the series in Las Vegas having averaged 9.0 points per game, posted 20 points on 7 of 8 shooting. She scored 14 of 20 points in the second half.
“She got hot, and people found her,” Fralick said. “She was taking great shots. One of my favorite things about Kadie is her enthusiasm for the game is never based on her performance. She is just as excited for her teammates, whether she’s playing great or having a tough night. ... There was just really good energy to our team celebrating each other.”
BGSU topped Oakland 72-60 Dec. 19 on a short-notice reschedule, after the team’s original opener in Vegas against Campbell was canceled due to coronavirus protocols within Campbell’s program.
Hempfling, Elissa Brett, Nyla Hampton, and Zoe Miller each paced the team in scoring with 10 points, Morgan Sharps made three 3-pointers for nine points, and Jocelyn Tate scored eight against Oakland.
“What I love about basketball is, it’s hard to pinpoint, and it’s hard to [calculate] chemistry of a team,” Fralick said. “But you can feel it, you can see it, and you can experience it when you watch them play together.
“Our Oakland game was a great example of really good, balanced basketball and the ball finding the open person and playing unselfish and playing team basketball, and I thought we saw that in both of our games out in Vegas.”
The Falcons played a strong second half against UT Martin which included a 20-10 third-quarter scoring margin. Madisen Parker made 4 of 6 shots from the field for a season-high 11 points.
The Falcons have heated up at the right time. The Mid-American Conference opener against Eastern Michigan originally scheduled for Wednesday was postponed and, per EMU, “may be rescheduled for a future date.” BGSU is now scheduled to tip off MAC play at home on New Year’s Day against Ball State in their next contest.
First Published December 26, 2021, 10:18 p.m.