WOMEN’S BASKETBALL LOOKS TO BOUNCE BACK AGAINST LAWRENCE TECH

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. - The Warriors (4-5, 1-2) will look to bounce back after a tough loss to Madonna earlier in the week, facing off with the Lawrence Tech Blue Devils (2-4, 2-2) on Saturday afternoon at Garth Pleasant Arena.

Warrior Athletics is excited to welcome students and staff of the Pontiac School District for the first-ever Pontiac Schools Day, celebrating the Pontiac community and its significance to the Rochester University campus.

THREE KEY THINGS

PLAYOFF REMATCH IN A NEW ERA

Saturday's contest will be a rematch of the 2022-23 WHAC Tournament First Round, where the Warriors defeated the Blue Devils 77-67 in Rochester Hills. A season later, both teams enter a new chapter after losing key seniors.

The Warriors graduated several key seniors, while the Blue Devils graduated First Team All-Conference selection Kendall Fisher, who accounted for a huge part of the Blue Devil offense. Junior guard Maggie Long has taken on most of the scoring burden for the Blue Devils.

CRASHING THE GLASS

Both teams will look for the edge in the rebounding battle, which has been a bit of a pain point for the Warriors this season. However, Rochester is not without the talent in that aspect of the game, with sophomore Melanie Moore posting her second double-double last week.

For the Blue Devils, three players average over six rebounds a game - Kate Jacobs, Dede Smith, and Jade Faris. Rochester will need to limit their impact as much as possible in order to succeed.

FINDING RHYTHM

Rochester must find a way to get its looks to fall consistently in this contest. Rochester has had some trouble with shooting consistency, but the team has made offensive execution a focal point in practice. The Warriors will look to any of their primary scorers to have a big game in this important conference matchup.

COACH'S CORNER

Head Coach Jared Ocampo had this to say on the defensive side of this matchup:

"There will be several areas we will need to shift our focus on for LTU. The biggest is our ability to work together on the defensive end. We cannot afford to get beat off the dribble, and we must stay disciplined collectively and out of foul trouble. We'll look to focus on turning defensive stops into easy offense."

SPORTS INFORMATION SPOTLIGHT

Following the Madonna game, Moore is now fifth in the WHAC in field goal percentage at 51.%

AROUND THE CONFERENCE

Four teams stand at the top of the WHAC standings, with Indiana Tech, Concordia, and Cornerstone leading the way. Siena Heights is not far behind at 3-1, with their sole loss to Indiana Tech.

Hussein Murray - RU Athletic Communications

Featured Image: Hanna Swanson - RU Athletics