It took just one word for Quintana Ward to describe Saturday's matchup with Bowling Green.
Huge
she said with a smile.
Fresh off its first Mid-American Conference win of the season, Ohio faces its biggest challenge of the season when it hosts the No. 18 Falcons.
When asked if Bowling Green was the team every other school in the MAC measures itself against, Ward was quick in her response.
Definitely the guard responded. They came out and beat Buffalo by 33 so we're just so pumped right now for this game.
With Ohio having a 6-1 record at home so far this season, the team is confident it can defend its home court well.
We're just looking to take pride in our home floor and take care of business
Ward said.
The Bobcats (8-7, 1-2 MAC) used late-game heroics by guard Lauren Kohn to stave off a furious Buffalo rally at the end of Wednesday night's contest. Kohn's 3-pointer with two minutes left and block at the buzzer allowed the 'Cats to pick up a 69-66 victory, a game that built the team's confidence after a slow start to the conference season.
It was very big
Kohn said. After the first two losses
our confidence was down
but this definitely built up our confidence
especially going into Saturday
which could be one of the biggest games of the year for us
so it really helped bring our team back together.
Bowling Green (13-2, 3-0 MAC) is on a tear within the MAC, winning its league-record 28th-consecutive conference game with a 74-52 win against Kent State Wednesday. Three Falcons scored in double figures in the win, with forward Carin Horne and center Liz Honegger each scoring 17 points.
The Falcons' only losses this season have come against No. 4 Duke, 55-46, in the Caribbean Classic in Cancun, Mexico, and at Notre Dame in overtime, 85-81. They have won their conference games by an average margin of 28 points.
Forward Ali Mann leads the way offensively for Bowling Green, averaging 15.7 points per game. Mann is shooting 56 percent (79-of-140) from the field and 53 percent (19-of-36) from three-point range. Honegger is the Falcons' rebounding leader, pulling down 5.5 boards per game.
With a matchup with such a dangerous opponent looming, coach Sylvia Crawley is aware of what she needs to have her team focused on.
I want them to just focus on playing from timeout to timeout
Crawley said. I need for my team to play its 'A' game
