Just like how a case of the common cold is going around, a wave of shooting woes have infected the teams inside the Stroh Center.
After Bowling Green men’s basketball suffered a 66-58 loss to Miami on Tuesday night, BGSU women’s basketball had their own shooting struggles, falling to the Buffalo Bulls 70-55 on Wednesday.
“Very uncharacteristic offensive game as of late for us,” said head coach Fred Chmiel. “They (Buffalo) did a pretty good job of controlling the dribble-drive, but I think we just missed a ton of shots.”
Things started off extremely slow for BG, mustering just 10 first quarter points and a meager 30.7% field goal percentage.
At half though, BG trailed by just five at 29-24, with Morgan Sharps leading the way at the break for the orange and brown with eight.
“I thought we could have built a lead early if we had more shot opportunities,” said Chmiel. “That might’ve helped us out and it may have been a different game.”
But even with that, the Falcons then saw Erika Porter find her rhythm, and in fact, she didn’t miss a single time from the field.
“I just feel like I’m a very dominant post player,” said Porter. “I have a lot of strength, lower body strength, and no matter how big the other defender is, I just find a way to get the ball in the basket, and just going off determination to help my team.”
A perfect 10/10 shooting performance from the senior forward kept BG in the thick of things for awhile, ending her night with a 22-point, 13-rebound double-double, her fifth of the season.
Porter finished one more made field goal away from tying Michelle Terry‘s record set in 1996 against Eastern Michigan, where she finished a game 11/11.
Another bright spot in the night was the first career basket for late-season addition Kyla Smith, a former member of the BGSU club women’s basketball team, who has joined the roster due to injuries.
And yet, moral wins do not impress Chmiel.
“I’m not into little victories,” said Chmiel. “I’m into playing to our standard, and I don’t think we did that tonight, so I’m not happy.”
For the orange and brown, Porter’s 22 was a team/game-high, while Sharps finished as the only other double-digit scorer with 15. Amy Velasco added seven points along with six assists and four rebounds.
On the flip side, Buffalo’s Chellia Watson, the Mid-American Conference’s individual scoring leader, once again showed her shooting prowess, shaking off a slow first half to end with 20 points. Rana Elhusseini added 16 while Kirsten Lewis-Williams had 14.
BGSU (14-12 OVR, 8-7 MAC), now has to pick up the pieces and find a way to snag a win on Saturday, senior day, against a Miami team that beat them back on January 20, 56-47.
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