Following their second conference win against Miami, the Bowling Green women’s basketball team will travel to Dekalb, Illinois, on Wednesday to take on Northern Illinois.
The Falcons look to continue their defense that they showed in their last outing. The team held Miami to just nine points in the first half, which is the lowest scoring output a BG opponent has had since at least the 1994-95 season.
The team also rebounded well despite playing a smaller line up, winning that battle 39-32. In their most recent game against NIU earlier this season, the Falcons matched the Huskies on the glass at 32.
“We’ve definitely known after all the injuries that we were going to have to battle for rebounds all year,” freshman Kennedy Kirkpatrick said. “It’s been an emphasis with our team and in the staff. With it being an emphasis we are more aware of it and we’re able to compete more. Everyone has been giving it their all on the offensive and defensive glass and we’ve gotten a lot of second chance opportunities because of it.”
In light of all the injuries to the team, head coach Jennifer Roos is playing a lot of freshmen and sophomores. Freshman Sarah Baer is now the team’s only center and received her first collegiate start against Miami.
“It was an awesome experience,” Baer said. “I had to step it up. I had to learn the plays quicker and I felt like there was a lot of pressure on me but I feel like it made me better.”
Kirkpatrick will go into Wednesday’s game coming off of a career night.
In her last game, she scored a career-high 18 points, topping her previous best of eight. Even so, the offense will move to whoever can help the team against NIU’s defense.
“It’s really just the flow within the offense. Whoever is open, whoever is hot in a particular game will get the big shots,” Kirkpatrick said. “Rachel Myers has had a couple big games, Deborah [Hoekstra] has had a couple big games so we have a lot of people who are contributing offensively.”
Myers and Hoekstra have both seen a spike in numbers in the past few games. Hoekstra has four double-doubles in January and they have all come within the past six games. She grabbed a career-high 14 boards in the game against Miami.
Myers has scored double-digits in four of the past five games, including a 21-point game against Western Michigan.
“I’m just trying to do whatever the team needs to be successful,” Myers said. “My team is just giving me opportunities to score. We’ve been learning a new offense and we’re finally getting the hang of it, figuring out where you can shoot and what kind of shots we can take.”
NIU has lost four out of its past five and are 2-4 in the MAC. They will likely start three seniors compared to Bowling Green’s one.
The game will tip-off at 7 p.m. at the
Convocation Center.
