Women's basketball team aims to end Wednesday struggles
The women's basketball team looks to end its streak of poor Wednesday performances when it plays Kent State at 7 p.m. today at Rose Arena.
The team lost its two prior Wednesday home games.
Coach Sue Guevara said Kent State is a solid basketball team and has many offensive and defensive weapons.
"They have a legit 6-foot, 4-inch kid, Anna Kowalska," she said. "She is a real nice post player that they missed last year. They are solid and they have a couple good 3-point shooters and they have a good kid from Saginaw that will penetrate the defense. It is a real solid basketball team."
The game will feature two of the three best offensive teams in the Mid-American Conference. Central is tied for first in the Conference with Ball State, each having 57 made 3-pointers in conference games. Kent State is a close second trailing, only by one shot with a total of 56.
CMU also leads the MAC in total points scored with 546 in conference points, while KSU ranks third with 504 conference points.
Kowalska, one of Kent State's leaders, is known for her ability to control the middle and force outside shots.
"They really pressure you out high; and they can do that with a big 6'4" shot blocker on the inside," Guevara said. "I think we are just going to have to be patient."
Kowalska currently has 36 blocked shots this season, only 10 behind CMU's team total of 46.
Guevara said the Golden Flashes play a zone defense and CMU must take advantage.
"If you want to get open threes against the zone, you must make the zone shift," she said. "Our girls are getting better at that."
Defense is an aspect in which the Chippewas have emphasized as of the last few games.
"It was total team effort," said junior Britni Houghton on the team's recent improvement in defense. "We have emphasized in practice team defense and it is not just one-on-one. There will be times where, individually, you are going to get beat, and that's when the whole team needs to be there."
Guevara said she is excited with the team's increased effort and progress with its transition defense. She said it will be important to defeating the Golden Flashes.
"I think our transition defense is going to be key," she said. "We have to know who their 3-point shooters are and we cannot lose them. We absolutely cannot lose them. They have a nice inside-outside game and we need to make sure we get a hand up."
The team is 0-2 on the season at home on Wednesdays. The team lost to Northern Illinois 75-70 on Jan 7 and 80-58 to Temple on Jan. 28.
"I talked to the girls earlier and told them that last time we played at home on a Wednesday, Northern Illinois and Temple got to cheer in the room next to us," Guevara said. "We want to protect our home court and that is something we need to do a better job of on Wednesday if we want to stay in the hunt for that first round bye (in the MAC Tournament)."
Both CMU and Kent State come into the game on two-game winning streaks and 4-3 MAC records.
"I think it will be a really good game," Guevara said. "Kent State is a good basketball team. It will be exciting because the three ball will be going up. It will just be an all around good collegiate basketball game, one that the fans will like to watch."
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