Lindsay, team prepare for Robert Morris

Jeff Russ

The women’s basketball team looks to bounce back from its opening game loss to St. Bonaventure tomorrow when they play at Robert Morris, 7 p.m. in Moon County, PA..

The Flashes come into the game 0-1 after a 74-68 loss to Sunday. After the game, coach Bob Lindsay said he is looking for someone to step up and become a leader on the young team, and echoed those statements again after Tuesday’s practice.

“One of the first goals is to at least play harder than the other team for 40 minutes, it’s one of the goals right away,” he said. “When you’re minus 13 on the rebound margin, you didn’t play harder than the other team.

Lindsay said the team spent time in practice working on offensive rebounds and team defense.

The Flashes were outrebounded 40-27, including 15-4 on the offensive boards. Defensively, the Flashes could not stop the Bonnies from behind the 3-point arc, they shot 5-8 from the 3-point line in the second half.

Lindsay has not seen film on Robert Morris, its first game came Monday, a 67-63 loss to Florida in Gainesville, Fla.

After winning the conference a year ago, the Colonials were picked to finish second in the Northeast Conference in the preseason poll. Like the Flashes, Robert Morris was outrebounded, but played an aggressive, defensive style that forced 19 turnovers against Florida.

The key for the Flashes will be stopping the Colonials senior forward Chinata Nesbit and junior guard Angela Pace. Nesbit, a 6-foot-2-inch first-team All-NEC player, scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in Robert Morris’ opener. Pace scored 12 and dished out six assists.

“We’re playing against a number of real good athletes and a team that pressures well defensively,” he said. “They’re a team that went to the NCAA tournament last season, so we’re playing a really good team.

The Flashes are 1-1 all-time against Robert Morris, losing last season 74-73 in Huntington, W.Va. Both teams lost most of the starters from last year’s game, Robert Morris lost four of five while the Flashes lost all five starters. The game can be heard on 640 WHLO.

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Jeff Russ at [email protected].