Miami a little soft in middle

MU outscored 53-17 during a 20-minute stretch in a 78-62 loss to Wake Forest.

By Pete Conrad, Staff Writer 1:51 AM Sunday, November 22, 2009

OXFORD — Wake Forest taught the Miami University women’s basketball team an important, if painful, lesson Saturday, Nov. 21.

“What I hope they take away from this is how important it is to play solid defense and to rebound all the way through,” Miami coach Maria Fantanarosa said after watching the RedHawks lose 78-62 to the Demon Deacons.

“We have to go in and compete all the time, for all 40 minutes,” Miami freshman point guard Courtney Osborn said.

Miami (1-2) played well over the first 8 minutes and the last 12, but those middle 20 minutes were dominated by their Atlantic Coast Conference opponent, which outscored the RedHawks 53-17 during that span.

Brittany Waters, a 6-foot-1 junior forward, led Wake Forest with 33 points on 12-of-22 shooting. She also had 12 rebounds and blocked two shots.

“They are a very well coached team with a lot of talent at every position,” said Fantanarosa, whose RedHawks led 14-7 early in the first half but later trailed by as many as 29 points midway through the second half.

The Miami coach said she liked the play of senior forward Ashleigh Brown and Osborn.

Both players scored 14 points for the RedHawks. Osborn added six rebounds, five assists and two steals and Brown had four takeaways.

“She’s playing a lot of minutes and is getting pressured,” Fantanarosa said of Osborn. “She and Ashleigh Brown right now have a good camaraderie out there as far as leading ... There’s no doubt Ashleigh is playing to win right now, and that needs to get contagious.”

Rachael Hencke added 12 points and a couple blocks for the RedHawks, and Kirsten Olowinski had nine points, seven rebounds and three blocks off the bench.

Wake Forest, which appeared in last season’s WNIT, improved to 3-0.

Miami will play in the Pitt Thanksgiving Tournament in Pittsburgh on Friday, Nov. 27, against Marshall.

The RedHawks will face Pitt or Appalachian State on Saturday.

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