Saint Mary's hope to end losing streak with Hornet win
By KATIE McVOY
Assistant Sports Editor
Technical skill and coaching will play its part, but much of tonight's home meeting between the Belles and the Kalamazoo Hornets will focus on history and emotion.
The Hornets felt the sting of the Olivet Comets on Saturday, dropping the game to Olivet 54-53, and falling to fourth place in the MIAA behind Calvin. The Hornet loss has inspired hope in the Belles and they will be ready to win as they step onto the court at 7:30 p.m.
"I think our team is really looking forward to a win," post player Anne Blair said. "Because we lost to Olivet as well is going to make us eager to go out there and win."
Coming off of five consecutive losses, most recently to Adrian, the Belles need that win. Currently, the only Saint Mary's MIAA win has come against Albion, and tonight's game against Kalamazoo marks the end of the first half of MIAA play.
"[This game] is really big," head coach Suzanne Smith said. "We need to get two wins in the first round of MIAA play."
In addition to the sheer need to win, the Belles and the Hornets have some history to deal with. Last year, a Saint Mary's team that only won four games all season upset Kalamazoo at home late in regular season play. Kalamazoo may be looking for revenge, but Saint Mary's plans to use that to its advantage.
"I think they're gonna come out really wanting to beat us," Blair said. "But that will strike us hard because we know we can win and we want to."
Adrian's strong press on Saturday led to several Saint Mary's scoring problems. Smith and her team have been focusing on the offense this week at practice.
"We're working to be really aggressive," Smith said. "Most teams in the MIAA that we've faced have come out with the press and we've been kind of tentative."
Getting the ball inside was also a major problem on Saturday, one that the Belles do not plan on having tonight.
"We've really worked with our post players," Smith said. "Saturday our guards threw some passes to people that weren't open and we've been working with them to look inside."
In addition to working with guards and post players, the Belles are hoping that size may come into play under the basket. Blair, Elizabeth Linkous and Kelly Roberts are all 6-footers while Kalamazoo's post players, Amanda Weishuhn and Lindsay Drury, only stand 5-foot-10.
"They have a small line-up post wise," Blair said. "[Our guards] can look into the post players more."
The Belles have recently struggled with team unity, but tonight they will have to work together to beat a quick Kalamazoo offense.
"Kalamazoo has a lot of quick guards," Smith said. "We really need to work on team defense."
The Belles are still not playing with a complete team. Leading forward Kristen Matha is still out with an injured hip flexor muscle and will not return to practice until Monday at the earliest. In addition, sophomore guard Katie Christiansen went home sick from practice on Monday. She is, however, expected to be at full strength tonight.
"Christiansen has been sick," Smith said. "But she's a real fighter and she will be ready to play on Wednesday."
Action will tip off tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Angela Athletic facility.
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, January 24, 2001
