Falcon women heat up at right time

After struggling in the entire month of January, the Falcon women’s basketball team has now won four out of their past five.

“We’re playing with a lot of confidence right now,” Head Coach Cindy Hovet said.

Starting this streak was a road victory at UW-Superior, a game in which they shot 57 percent from the field.

“We worked hard in staying focused even on the road,” freshman Maranda Dohrn said.

The Falcons are doing it on both offense and defense, shooting over 40 percent from the field and averaging 15 steals per game over the winning streak. In their latest victory, the Falcons shot 42 percent from the floor and forced 16 turnovers on the road at Oshkosh on Feb. 14.

“Our defense has been able to force turnovers which help lead us to better shots,” Hovet said. “Also, we have been more patient on the offensive end, waiting for a good shot to open up for us.”

Another category in which the Falcons have been winning lately is the free throw battle, getting to the line on average 22 times per game, and making approximately 65 percent of those attempts. The reason for this, according to Hovet, is the increased number of offensive rebounds, and the constant drives to the basket.

“We have been more aggressive on offense, our guards have done a nice job of driving into the lane and then kicking it back out for an open shot,” Hovet said.

The Falcons have not only been successful offensively, but defensively as well, so well that foul trouble has not been a factor for any of their recent victories.
“We’re playing good clean defense, and really helping each other out,” Hovet said.

Even though the Falcons had momentum with four straight victories, that was not enough to get a fifth straight victory Wednesday night at home against UW-Stout. The Falcons lost 84-62, trailing for most of the game. The Falcons struggled to get anything on the offensive end, and Stout was able to get a high percentage of shots.

“The Blue Devils were able to stretch our defense with good inside game and great outside shooting,” Hovet said.

UW-River Falls only shot 38 percent from the field, and turned the ball over 20 times. One thing stressed during the recent practices was offensive rebounding, something the Falcons failed to stop in the game.

“We have stressed rebounding in practice, but it didn’t turn over into the game,” Hovet said.

The loss to Stout puts the Falcons down in the loss column, but they are still in line for a playoff bid. Their conference record is now at a 7-8, which puts them sixth in the conference. Their final game will at home against UW-Whitewater, on 3 p.m. Feb. 21. The WIAC playoffs get started Feb. 24.