SHOOTING WOES PLAGUE WARRIORS IN LOSS TO SIENA HEIGHTS

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. - It was an abysmal shooting day for the Warriors (7-6, 4-3) on Wednesday night, shooting just 26.8% from the field against WHAC foe Siena Heights (11-2, 6-1) in a 73-41 loss in the return to conference play. Rochester struggled to find any sort of offensive momentum throughout the contest, and defense also left room for improvement, with the Saints finding success inside.

THE RUNDOWN

FIRST HALF

• Finishing inside was a tale of two teams, with the Saints finding open looks off BLOB plays while the Warriors failed to get much going at the rim. Despite several offensive rebounds, Rochester couldn't get many looks to fall in the opening period
• The Saints jumped out to a double-digit lead and held that margin for the rest of the game, giving Rochester all kinds of trouble in the paint. An Ashley Loon three was the lone score for the Warriors in the second quarter, while the Saints pitched in 17 thanks to several fastbreak opportunities

SECOND HALF

• Rochester showed some fight in the third, out-scoring Siena Heights 21-16 behind a combined 17 points from Loon and guard Celeste Mershimer, who both hit two threes apiece. One of those threes came on a buzzer-beating effort by Mershimer
• The offensive woes resumed in the fourth quarter, with the Warriors only scoring five points as a unit. The Saints continued to find open looks and put the game away

POSTGAME PRESSER

Head Coach Jared Ocampo had this to say on the loss:

"We knew going in that Siena Heights is a very good defensive team. They showed it tonight and challenged us on the offensive end. We did not execute to the best of our ability and we lacked a lot of purpose.

We have to understand better that things will not be given to us; we have to work for it. Fortunately, we have a group of girls who exercise resiliency every day, so we'll watch the film and get back to work."

STAT OF THE GAME

In her Warrior debut, forward Kalen Williams grabbed eight rebounds.

UP NEXT

Rochester will need to pick up the pieces before traveling to Fort Wayne for a matchup with #25 Indiana Tech (9-3, 6-0) on Saturday at 1 p.m. 

Hussein Murray - RU Athletic Communications

Featured Image: Hanna Swanson - RU Athletics