It’s hard to say “look at the positives” for the Western Michigan women’s basketball team, as most of its statistics are negatives.

The Broncos hold a –8.3 scoring margin, the last in the Mid-America Conference. Rebounding has been a similar story, as the Kalamazoo team is averaging a –0.4 rebounding margin a contest.

Then there is the Broncos’ turnover margin, which sits at –0.73. And while it’s not a negative number, WMU’s assist to turnover ratio, 0.50 a game, is last in the MAC. Finally, there’s the fact that it has started 0-2 in conference play.

The Huskies (6-9 overall, 1-1 MAC), however, are not underestimating their opponent. NIU faces WMU at 7 p.m. tonight at the Convocation Center.

Instead, head coach Carol Owens said her team is focused on itself.

“I think [this game] is about us,” Owens said. “It’s about how hard we work as a team to get a win.”

But not everything has been bleak for the Broncos (4-11, 0-2) this season.

One bright spot for WMU has been guard Tiera DeLaHoussaye. The senior was named this week’s MAC West player of the week, the seventh time in her career. In two games last week, the guard averaged 21.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.0 per game. But even this effort wasn’t enough for the Broncos as they lost to both Toledo (69-64) and Ball State (70-67).

The key to shutting down “the glue of the team,” according to Owens, is to prevent DeLaHoussaye from getting into a rhythm.

“You can’t let her get comfortable,” Owens said. “We have to force her to take off-balanced shots.”

NIU knows that whomever guards DeLaHoussaye will need help if she tries to drive to the lane. What the Huskies have to do is not leave forward Miame Giden open. The freshman is leading the Broncos and is No. 13 in the MAC, with 12.8 points per game.

To truly shutdown WMU’s offensive options, NIU will focus on rebounding. The Huskies have the MAC’s leading rebounder in center, Ebony Ellis, who is averaging 9.4 boards per game.

After an early season success, Ellis has become the target of double team box outs – preventing her from grabbing as many rebounds. Owens said the emergence of players who have gotten rebounds because of these double teams, such as forward Mauvolyene Adams, has once again provided one–on–one rebounding situations for Ellis.

“I think she has a great sense of going to get the ball,” Owens said of Ellis. “Any time she gets a one–on–one opportunity, my bet is on her.”

All comments are moderated before being published. We will not edit your comments, but we also will not approve those that are abusive, off-topic, attack another poster or contain information we know to be libelous or false.

During peak weekday viewing times, most comments will be reviewed within six hours. For more detailed information, click here.

After submitting your comment, check below for a confirmation message.

• Your name:
• Enter text from image:
  

• Your comment:

* 300-character count. HTML formatting will not display.