Indiana women’s basketball: Previewing Bowling Green

Indiana women’s basketball is 3-0 on the year with home victories over Vermont and UMass-Lowell and a road win at No. 11 Tennessee. Tonight, they’ll host Bowling Green in Assembly Hall. Here’s everything you need to know about the Falcons before tipoff:

Who are the Falcons?

Last season, the Falcons went 17-16 overall and were a clean 10-10 in Mid-American Conference play. They qualified for the Women’s Basketball Invitational, and went 2-1 in the postseason event.

They return all of their 2022 All-MAC honorees in third-teamer forward Kadie Hempfling, All-Defensive guard Nyla Hampton, and All-Freshman guard Amy Velasco.

They are led by head coach Robyn Fralick, who is in her fifth season at the helm. Fralick’s tenure as head coach has been considered quite successful to this point; the Falcons were 20-88 in MAC play in the six years prior to 2020, but have gone 24-14 in-conference over the last two seasons. Fralick has the Falcons on come up, they placed third in the preseason MAC poll behind Toledo and Ball State.

This season

Like the Hoosiers, the Falcons are also undefeated. They opened up the year with a 77-61 victory at St. Bonaventure and most recently defeated Wright State 102-72 at home.

Junior guard Nyla Hampton paced Bowling Green in that one, scoring a career-high 24 points in addition to recording a pair of points, steals, and an assist in the first 42 seconds. Hampton, a two-time conference all-defensive team selection, is regarded as the Falcons’ best player.

Another name Hoosier fans should keep an eye on is Elissa Brett. The Senior guard scored 26 points against St. Bonaventure, and recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds against Wright State.

The thing that really sticks out about the Bowling Green roster is their lack of size. Their tallest player is listed at 6’2”, while the Hoosiers have eight players rostered at that height or taller. Expect a lot of points in the paint for Indiana tonight.

The X-Factor

Indiana Director of Operations Liz Honegger had an impressive playing career at Bowling Green. She’s the program’s all-time leader in blocks, and also ranks in the top ten in rebounding and scoring.

In 2006-07, she helped BGSU reach the Sweet Sixteen, becoming the first MAC team to ever do so. The Falcons won the MAC three times with Honegger on the roster.

Honegger’s history will not have much impact on the game itself, but it’s still a cool little story, I am sure she is looking forward to hosting her alma mater in SSAH. Tip is set for 7pm and the game will be broadcast on BTN+.