Women’s basketball coach Curt Miller and junior guard Lauren Prochaska will be meeting New York’s version of themselves against Marist.
In Poughkeepsie, they have their own version of Prochaska in senior Rachele Fitz, the two-time defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year and their own version of Miller in coach Brian Giorgis, who has a 135-27 record the past five seasons.
‘Our programs are a lot alike over the last five or six years,’ Miller said. ‘[We’re] programs that mirror each other, so it’s a game, a little bit, for bragging rights.’
Miller has led his team to a 137-28 record the past five seasons and was led by Mid-American Conference Player of the Year Prochaska last season.
But now Prochaska will have to be one of the players the Falcon will employ to try to slow down Fitz.
‘She’s clearly their best player,’ Miller said. ‘She’s a very difficult matchup for a post player because she’s an unbelievable finisher. She has an uncanny way of being able to finish unorthodoxed shots.’
With 49 points (17-for-27 shooting) and 22 rebounds through the first two games, Fitz will be looking to lead the Red Foxes (1-1) to a win against BG tomorrow afternoon in the third round of the Preseason WNIT in a game that pits the two best mid-majors from the past five seasons against each other.
But the Falcons (1-1) aren’t going to sit idly by as they will roll out a confident starting lineup, despite coming off a 91-72 blowout loss to No. 3 Ohio State last weekend.
‘We took a lot of confidence coming out of that Ohio State game,’ Miller said. ‘Scoring 72 points against Ohio State gives us confidence that we can find ways to score.’
Senior Tamika Nurse and junior Tracy Pontius lead the charge for the Falcons, each scoring 28 points in the first two games and combining to make 11-of-24 three-point shots.
The two true point guards are still getting a feel for playing with each other on the court, since they both can’t be in control of the ball as it comes up court.
‘They’re both very talented with the ball in their hands and learning to play with each other,’ Miller said. ‘They’re off the ball a little more than they are used to.’
Marist is also coming off a tough loss – a 55-50 tilt against West Virginia during which the Red Foxes only shot 23.4 percent from the field.
But with as many good shooters as they have, Miller said he doesn’t expect them to shoot that poorly two games in a row.
‘Out of all the basketball games I’ve watched Marist play over the past five years, I’ve never seen them shoot so poorly,’ Miller said. ‘We know we’re going to get a really good game out of them.’
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