Bowling Green State University junior guard Amy Velasco (1) puts up the game-winning shot with time expired during the fourth quarter of a game against Duquesne on Monday at the Stroh Center. Bowling Green defeated Duquesne 68-66. (Scott W. Grau - Sentinel-Tribune)
Bowling Green State University junior guard Amy Velasco dribbled three-quarters the length of the floor in 3.8 seconds and sank a five-foot right-handed floater at the buzzer to give the Falcons a 68-66 victory over Duquesne University at the Stroh Center Monday.
The play was designed with deception in mind because BGSU coach Fred Chmiel thought the Dukes were expecting the hot hand of senior guard Lexi Fleming to shoot the game winner.
The Falcons ran a stack play with the appearance that Fleming would curl out to the point, and two defenders followed Fleming, leaving the lane open for Velasco.
“Honestly, it was a cool experience, but we were in a stack and everyone went with Lex because she’s a great player and they had their eye on her and there was nobody on me,” Velasco said.
Traveling nearly the length of the court in under four seconds while putting the ball to the floor and getting through the defensive traffic is easier said than done.
“I looked up and there was still three seconds left and I was at halfcourt, so I figured I didn’t have to chuck it from there. I knew I could get a few more dribbles in before the time ran out,” Velasco said.
It is something that Velasco has done before, shooting the game-winner in a regional semifinal tournament while playing for Centerville High School.
“It was a floater — the same exact thing,” Velasco said. “We ran a stack the exact same way, we curled it and it was a floater with my left hand actually, and it was a buzzer-beater my junior year of high school.”
The Falcons improve to 5-1 in their first season under Chmiel, including their second win over an Atlantic 10 team, defeating Xavier 73-64, in Cincinnati on November 18. He’s finding that his team plays like “Kardiac-Falcons,” too, finding wins any which way they can.
“Not the best game we’ve played, not the best shooting we’ve done, but this team finds a way to win,” Chmiel said. “They have a huge heart. You can’t tell them they can’t do something.
“Incredible leadership and there is always somebody who steps up who you don’t think is going to be there, but there always is.”
Duquesne, coming off a 56-55 win over Pitt on Saturday, falls to 3-2.
It wasn’t just Velasco’s play that sparked fireworks in the final minute — on a feed from fifth-year guard Morgan Sharps, BGSU senior guard Lexi Fleming hit a high-arching three-pointer with 20 seconds remaining, giving the Falcons a 66-64 lead.
However, Duquesne 6-foot-2 senior forward Amaya Hamilton, who had been a thorn in the Falcons’ side all night, drove and scored in the lane to tie the game at 66 with 8.6 seconds remaining.
Fleming tried to drive to the basket, similar to Velasco, but the BGSU guard was whistled for a player control foul after running into Duquesne’s 6-2 junior forward Kiandra Browne.
After a timeout, the Dukes took possession in the halfcourt, but BGSU clamped down on the inbounds, forcing a five-second call and turnover to set up Velasco’s game-winning drive.
The Falcons had a solid first half offensively, shooting 50% from the floor (15-for-30), including 50% from beyond the arc (7-for-14) to take a 40-31 halftime lead.
However, in the third quarter, BGSU could not stop Hamilton driving into the paint, scoring 15 points in that single stanza as the Dukes outscored the Falcons, 25-9, to take a 56-49 lead entering the final quarter.
In the fourth, BGSU’s defense held the Dukes to without a field goal for the first five minutes and 30 seconds.
BGSU senior forward Jasmine Clerkley rebounded her own shot and scored on the putback to give BGSU a 61-60 lead with 2:25 remaining, and the race was on to the finish.
The 5-5 Fleming led the Falcons with 19 points, seven rebounds, and three assists, shooting 50% (7-for-14) from the field.
Velasco, who was 6-for-6 from the free throw line, had 15 points and two steals, Sharps was 3-for-6 from downtown, scoring 11 points, and freshman guard Paige Kohler contributed 10 points and four assists.
Clerkley came off the bench and already had career highs by halftime in points (6) and rebounds (6), and finished with nine points, 10 rebounds, including six off the offensive boards, and she had two assists.
Clerkley has seen limited playing minutes during her first three years as a Falcon. Chmiel and the Falcons say Clerkley has continued to work on her game, leading to her performance Monday.
“Jasmine Clerkley played a huge role for us when our post play was lacking, for lack of a better term,” Chmiel said. “She stepped into that gap and had some really good numbers, but her presence was even bigger than her stats.”
Sharps says she has seen Clerkley’s growth, which reached a pinnacle Monday.
“Man, she has come a long way,” Sharps said. “I think coach Fred has done a great job of pushing her to her limits. She has so much potential and he sees that in her and gets on her every single day.
“Our last practice, you should have seen the amount of stuff she was doing, but that paid off today because it’s next man up every time and she knows that and she knows what she is capable of, for sure,” Sharps continued.
“So just seeing her getting her buckets and giving her confidence because she hasn’t played on the court that much. So, when she’s on the court, it’s just giving her confidence to do it again and keep going because she made big plays for us tonight.”
Rounding out the scoring for BGSU was 6-0 senior forward Olivia Hill, a starter who had four points and four rebounds. However, the Falcons’ bench outscored the Dukes’ bench, 20-2.
Hamilton led all scorers with 28 points, shooting 10-for-17 from the field, scoring mostly at will in the paint, plus she had nine rebounds and was 8-for-9 from the line.
After a rough shooting third quarter, BGSU finished 37% (23-for-62) from the field, 36% (9-for-25) from the arc, and 77% (13-for-17) from the line.
Duquesne shot 39% (24-for-61) from the floor, including a dismal 17% (4-for-24) from beyond the arc, and made 14-of-20 shots from the charity stripe (70%).
For the Dukes, junior guard Naelle Bernard scored 14 points and junior guard Megan McConnell had a double-double 13 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two steals.
