On Sunday, University Area was alive with excitement as the Western Michigan University Broncos (3-6) took on the University of Illinois-Chicago Flames (2-6). This was an important game for the Broncos, especially for one, junior Taylor Manley, who in her freshman year attended UIC.
The Broncos opened the game on a good note when Manley put up five easy points, however, the tides began to change early on when the Flames opened up to a early lead. At the 12:00 minute mark in the first half UIC had a 6 point lead and they never looked back from there. On the game, the Flames had four players score in double digits.
“In our 1-6 start this year one of our struggles has been scoring,” said UIC head coach Lisa Ryckbosch. “In order to be productive on the offensive end you have to be effective on the defensive end and I feel that we did a good job of that today.”
At the end of the first half the score was 39-28 UIC.
In the second half, not a lot changed for the Broncos. UIC was able to get a lot of easy shots especially in the paint where they outscored the Broncos for the game 44-20. Nothing went well for the Broncos. In the second half alone they shot 6-33 from the field and were out rebounded 24-18. UIC on the other hand shot 11-22.
“If your shots aren’t falling and your not able to rebound, its going to lead to offensive breaks for your opponent,” said WMU head coach Tasha McDowell.
It was a frustrating and emotional loss for the Broncos on Sunday. There wasn’t much to cheer about. The final score was 69-47 UIC, 47 points being a season low for the Broncos. They shot 18-67 on the game, a 26.9 field goal percentage. It was the third straight game that sophomore Miame Giden was held to single digit points after scoring a career high 31 against Southern Illinois.
“I think the frustration comes from not playing to the ability that we know we can,” said senior Molly Dwyer. “Over this break I’m going to evaluate myself all around and try and be a better leader for this team.”
“I really don’t know where my team is at right now,” said McDowell. “I really don’t think we came out the way we should have. Obviously we are having some shooting issues. We are shooting the ball well in practice but in games, to shoot 26%, is dismal.”
