Currently on a school record nine-game losing streak, the Bowling Green women’s basketball team will look to pick up a win against Buffalo on Wednesday.
The team has struggled for a good portion of the year after losing four out of the 12 players on their preseason roster. Two of them were starters.
Of the two, Erica Donovan was the leading scorer and rebounder for the Falcons, averaging 15.3 points and 9.1 rebounds at the time of her injury. She has not played since December 19.
Despite those injuries and losing 16 of their last 18 games, the team says that the morale has stayed high going into these games.
“[Coach] Roos talks about winning the small battles and not looking at just the overall wins in a game,” junior Miriam Justinger said. “We’re still a really young team and even though we might not get the outcome we want as far as the win, we’re still learning a lot in every game. It’s about having small victories within those games. We go into every game really positive and we think we can win any game that we go into.”
Justinger has been a big part of keeping that team morale, being the only player besides sophomore Rachel Konieczki to start every game this season.
The Falcons have faced Buffalo once earlier this season in a loss on the Bulls home court. The game was an offensive show for the Bulls, shooting 49.2 percent from the field against Bowling Green’s 30.6 percent.
The Falcons also hit six three balls in the same game and made 17 out of 24 free throws, which is a lower number than normal for the team.
Bowling Green is shooting 77.2 percent from the free throw stripe and are ranked fifth in the country in that category. They will look to use that and their three point shooting to capitalize on the bigger Buffalo line-up.
“The three is a big part of our program and it always has been. I think we can win the three point battle, and that’s always a big key in any game,” Konieczki said. “We also try to get to the basket and get fouled to get points at that line. Getting points when the clock’s not running is a strong point for since we are so good at shooting free throws so we need to take advantage of that.”
This style of offense is something that is especially important against Buffalo due to the size of the Bulls. The guard heavy Falcons were outrebounded 25-37 the last time out against this team.
“We’re faster than them. They’re a lot bigger but that means that they don’t necessarily guard the perimeter very well,” senior Deborah Hoekstra said. “They’re going to play us in a zone. That could work to our benefit because as shooters we’re going to have a lot more time to set up.”
In general, the Falcons are 8-0 this season and 45-1 in the Stroh when scoring 60 or more points. They have hit that number only twice this season against MAC opponents.
“We just need to score when we get the open shots,” Justinger said. “Whether it’s pretty or ugly, it doesn’t matter. As long as the ball goes through the hoop that’s good.”
The team tips off against the Bulls at 7 pm in the Stroh on Wednesday.
