Belles try to avoid mistakes in MIAA showdown against Bulldogs
By KATIE McVOY
Assistant Sports Editor
When the Saint Mary's Belles take the floor at Angela Athletic Facility on Saturday, the enemy won't be wearing the black and gold of the opposing Adrian Bulldogs.
This week, the enemy will be wearing the blue and white of the Belles themselves.
"I think right now we're playing against ourselves," head coach Suzanne Smith said. "It doesn't matter who the opponent is, we really have to focus on ourselves."
After a strong 7-5 start to the season, the Belles have skidded into four consecutive losses, all of them to MIAA teams. With league positioning in the balance, Saint Mary's will take on Adrian as they try to break the tie for sixth place and move away from the bottom of the MIAA pile.
That won't be an easy task, however, unless the Belles can get their team unity back.
"We need to be a team again," Smith said. "That's why we won early on in the season. It didn't matter who got the credit or who did the dirty work, we just went out there to win."
With forward Kristen Matha still questionable after sustaining a hip flexor muscle injury, some of the heart of the Belles team may still be missing on Saturday. The star post player only played for 12 minutes during Wednesday's loss to Olivet, far below her season average.
"Kristen brings a lot of heart to the court along with the stats," Smith said.
Matha returned to practice Thursday and Smith hopes to play her off the bench during Saturday's game.
"Kelly Roberts has really done a good job stepping in [for Matha]," Smith said.
But Roberts, along with the rest of the Belles, will have to step it up to cage the Bulldogs. With matching records of 1-4 in the MIAA, the Belles (7-8 overall) and the Bulldogs (6-8 overall) will be battling it out on the court.
"It's a battle because with both teams being down at the bottom of the conference, no one wants to be left behind," Smith said.
With less than half the season left and several important MIAA games coming up, the home crowd may give the Belles the extra edge they need to get back into the swing of things this season.
"It's good for us to play at home in front of the home crowd," Smith said. "We've had some short fuses and it may help us get the team more cohesive."
Saint Mary's will continue to focus on defense to shut down a Adrian attack, but it will do some work on offense as well. Smith is looking for her team to slow it down on offense and take solid shots.
"We need to work the ball around and get a good shot off," she said.
The action begins at 3 p.m. at Angela on Saturday.
All Sports Stories for Friday, January 19, 2001
