Offensive woes lead to record low

Daniel Gedney and Daniel Gedney

The Bowling Green State University women’s basketball team was held to a school record low 30 points in Wednesday night’s 42-30 loss to Central Michigan. The team has lost four straight and six of their last seven.

“It was just an embarrassing game both ways,” head coach Curt Miller said in a post game press conference Wednesday night. “That game has to set basketball back years. That has to be one of the worst Division I games of the year. It’s two bad teams, and we were worse.”

Both teams struggled offensively. The Chippewas shot 26 percent (13-50) from the field, while the Falcons shot 23.4 percent (11-47). The Falcons especially struggled from downtown, hitting only three of 30 shots from beyond the three-point arc.

“Both teams had open shots, and for goodness sakes, both teams could not make a basket. I want, desperately, to credit the defense, but both teams could not make a shot,” Miller said Wednesday night.

No player reached double digits in Wednesday night’s game.

Francine Miller and Erin Kuhl led their respective teams in scoring with eight points each. The Falcons will try and put this game behind them as they prepare to face archrival Toledo Saturday in Anderson Arena.

“This loss is going to be, in the long run for players and coaches, easier to get over [than the one point loss to Northern Illinois], because it was so bad that it was almost humorous at times that we couldn’t play any worse,” Miller said. “We are going to use a little humility and a little humor involved in this and just move on. We’ll get over it and we look forward to playing archrival Toledo.”

Anderson Arena is known as “The House That Roars.” Miller is hoping this nickname holds true for Saturday’s game.

“It’s important [the crowd support] because Toledo will bring a lot of fans,” Miller said. “I hope the atmosphere doesn’t turn into a home game for Toledo. That’s why it’s important for our fans to come out and our local crowd to support us. If we can get as many of the student body into the stands, that will be a great help. I certainly don’t want to turn Anderson Arena into a home arena for the Rockets, because they will bring a lot of fans down to the game.”

The Rockets come into this game tied for first place in the Western Division. This home game provides the Falcons with a prime opportunity to snap their longest losing streak of the season while playing spoiler against Toledo.

“We relish the opportunity to be the spoiler,” Miller said. “We look forward to this spoiler role and if we can have a hand in who wins either the East or the West down the stretch, that would bring us great pleasure.”

The Rockets will be playing without team captain Tia Davis, who was lost for the season after suffering a ruptured patella tendon in her right knee Wednesday night against Western Michigan. Davis was leading the team in scoring and rebounding and was third in the Mid-American Conference in scoring before her season was cut short.

“From our staff and our program, our prayers are with Tia. You never want to see a senior, let alone a senior having the year that she was having, be injured at this time of the year,” Miller said. Central Michigan opened up Wednesday night’s contest by scoring the first nine points. Miller is hoping for a faster start against the Rockets.

“I think a quick start would help our psyche and help our confidence,” Miller said. “We’re coming off a heartbreak loss [against Northern Illinois] and then we’re coming off a game where you can’t play much worse. So a quick start and a little jolt of confidence against Toledo early would help our psyche.”

In the first meeting of the season, the Rockets defeated the Falcons 70-62 on Jan. 15 in Toledo. The Falcons get their chance at revenge this Saturday. The game is scheduled for 1 p.m.