The Bowling Green State University women’s basketball team opened its 2026-27 exhibition slate with an 80-44 win over Ohio Dominican on Sunday at the Stroh Center, leaning on two freshmen and a defense that forced 29 turnovers.
Freshman Carol Silva led the Falcons with 18 points, 13 of them in the second half, while fellow freshman Sara Caetano recorded a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Senior Joniyah Bland-Fitzpatrick and Caetano were each credited with four steals as Bowling Green turned Ohio Dominican’s mistakes into a comfortable margin.
Bowling Green set the tone early, jumping out to a 24-9 lead after ten minutes and taking a 38-20 advantage into halftime. The Falcons shot 38.7 percent from the field, making 24 of 62 attempts, even on a cold afternoon from long range at 3-for-23 from three-point distance.
The second half widened the gap rather than closing it. Bowling Green outscored the Panthers 42-24 after the break, finishing a wire-to-wire exhibition performance in front of the home crowd at the Stroh Center.
For an exhibition, the value is less in the final score than in what the rotation revealed: two freshmen producing immediately, a senior guarding the perimeter, and a defense active enough to force 29 turnovers before the regular season begins. Ohio Dominican, a Division II opponent, never recovered from the opening ten minutes.
Bowling Green opens the regular season at home against Georgia Southern in the MAC/Sun Belt Challenge on November 2. Tip-off at the Stroh Center is scheduled for 7 p.m., and the game will be available on ESPN+.
Exhibitions also give a coaching staff its first live look at rotations against an unfamiliar opponent, and Bowling Green’s staff got production up and down the lineup on Sunday. The Falcons will treat the Georgia Southern opener as the real test, but an 80-44 margin, a double-double from a freshman in her first college appearance and 29 forced turnovers is the kind of dress rehearsal a team hopes for in late October.
Photo: Tim Tierney, CC BY-SA 4.0