By Christian Frazier
Sports Editor
The Rochester University women's basketball team is on a nine-game win streak after a 74-59 victory over Madonna University on Feb. 17.
The team's last loss before the streak was an almost 40-point defeat on Jan. 23 to conference opponent Siena Heights.
Head women’s basketball coach Brent Wichtner said the defeat to Siena Heights was a wake-up call for the coaches and the players. “After the game, my coaching staff and I decided that we need to keep our game plan simple this year…. I am thankful for the game against Siena Heights; it showed us we were not ready to compete at the highest level,” he said.
Along with other sports teams in Michigan, the Warriors had a two-month layoff before the Siena Heights game because of the COVID shutdown of competitive sports put in place by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. “We had five practices after a two-month layoff to prepare for Siena Heights,” Wichtner said.
Forward Delaney Bolles, a senior biology major, said the players are proud of their nine-game win streak and are out to prove how good they can be. The preseason poll by the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference projected a sixth-place finish for the Warriors. “As a team, our main goal is to prove everyone wrong. We were not too happy with the preseason rankings,” Bolles said.
The Warriors have proved their doubters wrong as they are now tied for first place in the WHAC with conference favorite Indiana Tech, who have won the conference for three consecutive years and are ranked ninth nationally.
The Warriors play their final three games of the regular season in a quick seven days. They match up with Indiana Tech in Garth Pleasant Arena on Feb. 20. Wichtner said, “I still think Indiana Tech is the team to beat as they have won the league for years now.”
They finish the regular season with match-ups against Aquinas College at home on Feb. 21 and at Cornerstone University on Feb. 23.