The women’s basketball team took to the road this weekend in a two game series against the Ohio Bobcats on Saturday, Jan. 22 and the Eastern Michigan Eagles on Monday, Jan. 24.
On Saturday, the Falcons struggled to find an offensive rhythm against an aggressive upfront defense led by CeCe Hooks. Who had just broken the Ohio University all-time scoring record which was held previously for 36 years by Caroline Mast. Hooks is only the second Bobcat player to surpass 2,000 career points. During the game Hooks also was awarded with the MAC all-time leading scorer with 2,510 career points.
The Falcons struggled early in the first quarter as a fast offense from the Bobcats set the pace for a majority of the game. The team looked a little tired out on the court as they appeared to get suffocated on the interior and were forced to the perimeter. Fresh off the bench Morgan Sharps appeared to bring some new momentum to the offense scoring a pair of deep shots to get the falcons on the board and bring them within six points heading into the second quarter.
As the game progressed though, the Falcons continued to struggle on both sides of the ball. Although the Bobcats led by double-digits, Madison Parker moved quickly to stop an eight point run for the bobcats. As the quarter progressed Kadie Hempfling was able to connect with the freshman Amy Valasco and worked efficiently in the paint. Unfortunately the Bobcats took off once again late in the second period and went into halftime with a 43-27 lead.
In the second half, the falcons came out with a new intensity and aggression that was not seen during the first half. With quick plays between Kenzie Lewis and Madison Parker that brought the Falcons back into the game.
But the Bobcats quickly shut that down and held a lead of 22 points. The Falcons worked fast through the last quarter to try and close up the gap as much as possible and brought the game within 12.
But the Falcons did not have time to mourn the loss as two days later they were back on the road in Ypsilanti Michigan to take on the Eastern Michigan Eagles. With the quick turnaround the Falcons used a new found aggression from their game Saturday to lead the entirety of the 40 minutes against the Eagles.
“I thought our team did a great job tonight. Eastern was in the same boat as we were; we both had quick turnarounds after playing Saturday. I thought our kids locked in to the things we asked them to do,” Coach Robyn Fralick said.
The Falcons looked like they were able to get comfortable in their offensive pushes shooting over 50% from the floor. Once again Hempfling led the Falcons on the court to bring in scoring, leading the team with 19 points on the night. Locking in to get the job done is something that the Falcons have relied on Hempfling to do throughout this season, and she has continued to prove that there is a reason for that.
“She’s such a unique player. What separates her from others is her enthusiasm for the game. She’s an inside-out player, and I thought we could take advantage of some switches,” Fralick said.
The Falcons sent the Eagles away with a score of 71-60. And look to continue their momentum as they welcome the Western Michigan Broncos into battle back home in the Stroh Center Jan. 27 at 7 p.m.
