The Miami University RedHawks women’s basketball team (8-18, 5-10 in MAC play) will travel to the Bowling Green State University Falcons (14-12, 8-7 in MAC play) this Saturday.
With Wednesday’s overtime loss to the Central Michigan University Chippewas, the RedHawks sit at ninth in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The Falcons sit at fifth.
Before the Central Michigan game, the RedHawks showed a dominant performance over the Eastern Michigan University Eagles on Love.Honor.Care Day. With the return of junior forward Katey Richason, it looked like the RedHawks could make a end-of-season comeback to secure a spot in the MAC tournament.
But when the RedHawks found themselves down 48-39 in the fourth quarter, it was clear that they weren’t out of trouble just yet. The Chippewas, the conference’s leading team in rebounds, recorded 56 against the RedHawks while turning the ball over 21 times.
Despite the deficit, the RedHawks put up 25 points in the fourth quarter to tie the game. With just over eight minutes left, the Chippewas were up 52-41, but nine straight points from first-year forward Amber Tretter and graduate forward Jadyn Scott gave the RedHawks a chance to take the lead. Junior guard Cori Lard tied the game 52-52 with back-to-back free throws.
The RedHawks took the lead with less than six minutes left, but the Chippewas were able to tie the game 64-64 in the last 50 seconds, sending the game into one overtime. The first period remained in a tie, but the second one saw the Chippewas regain the lead and the RedHawks unable to come back.
That same night, the Falcons fell to the University of Buffalo Bulls 70-55, making it the third home loss in a row. The Falcons lost the lead early in the game and were unable to gain it at any point across the four quarters. They were led by 22 points from senior forward Erika Porter, who also put up 13 rebounds and four turnovers, and 15 points from fifth-year guard Morgan Sharps.
For the RedHawks, there were some upsides to Wednesday’s game. Richason continued to show her significance with a career-high 21 points. Five RedHawks had double-digit points: Richason, Lard (15), Hennessey Luu-Brown (13), Scott (13) and Tretter (10).
The two teams met earlier in the season at Millett, where the RedHawks won 56-47.
In that game, the RedHawks were led by 12 points from Lard, 11 from Luu-Brown and 10 each from Tretter and Richason. As a team, they put up seven three-pointers on 19 attempts as well as a season-high nine free throws off 12 attempts.
The Falcons were led that day by Porter with 16 points and junior guard Amy Velasco with 13 points. They put up 41 rebounds and 17 turnovers compared to the RedHawks’ 32 and 15 respectively.
The RedHawks are at a historical disadvantage, with a 34-55 record against the Falcons dating back to 1975. They are 4-6 in their last 10 matchups, but with their victory earlier in the year, the Falcons can expect a tough battle on Saturday.
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Tip-off will be at 2 p.m. The RedHawks sit just outside of MAC tournament contention, but if they can finish the season strong, they may still find themselves in Cleveland later this month.
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