Spring Break
'Hawks regain confidence in win over Golden Flashes
Dan Kukla
Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: Sports
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"We were so tired, watching us on the tape in that Bowling Green game," said Miami Head Coach Maria Fantanarosa. "We were flat, we didn't have legs. I think we're still actually recovering from how flat we played. This was a huge challenge for us to get our confidence back."
The key to the RedHawks' victory was their domination of the offensive boards. Miami had 19 offensive rebounds while Kent State only had five. Forwards Laura Markwood and Stephanie Ford led the 'Hawks with 21 combined total rebounds during the night, giving the team several crucial put back chances that allowed it to establish a lead.
"Rebounding is my passion," Markwood said. "Every game I challenge the team to just rebound. To just go after every board they can. If we keep that up, we're definitely going all the way."
Wednesday's game was a tale of two halves for the 'Hawks. In the opening 12 minutes of play, Miami shot a blistering 50 percent from behind the arc, connecting on seven of 14 attempts from the three-point range. When the first half buzzer sounded, the Red and White had taken a staggering total 21 three-point shots.
In the second half, however, Miami moved inside the paint. The barrage of treys in the first half opened up space down low for posting up and driving in the lane.
"We changed our offense up in the second half," Fantanarosa said. "We went to more of an aggressive, open-post, penetrate, slashing type just to change things up a bit."
A direct result of this strategy change was a significant increase in free-throw attempts. Kent State was only charged with three personal fouls in the first half, preventing Miami from taking a single trip to the line. In the second period, Miami's aggressive play near the basket drew 12 personal fouls, and the 'Hawks went to hit all of their first nine free-throw attempts.
Miami's early success from the long-range allowed the team to build a nine point lead. But the Golden Flashes were not intimidated by the No. 2 team in the MAC, defiantly rattling off a 9-0 run of their own to tie the score at 27-27 with just under five minutes to play in the first half.
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