After losing their opening game of the season against the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater, the Maroons look to be reborn from the ashes and bring home a couple of victories this weekend at the Manchester Tournament this weekend in North Manchester, Indiana.

Despite losing a tough game last week against No. 14 Whitewater by a score of 86–68, the Maroons (0–1) know they are better than that score indicates.

“We obviously look to bounce back by getting a couple of wins this weekend,” said second-year forward Britta Nordstrom. “Not only that, but also making a statement. We want to show that we’re a better team than the score of last week.”

If the Maroons really do want to make that statement this weekend, they are going to have to focus on a few critical areas: scoring, rebounding, and turnovers.

Last weekend, the Maroons had no problem scoring, shooting 45.3 percent from the field, an effort led in part by Nordstrom, who racked up 16 points off the bench. Now, while the Maroons may have shot a tick over 50 percent, they were out-rebounded by a margin of 46–29. If they plan on winning this weekend, they are going to have to flip those numbers.   

Furthermore, if the Maroons are going to win, it’s going to come down to minimizing the turnovers on the offensive end, as well as forcing those on the defensive end.

The responsibility of keeping those turnover numbers low on the offensive end is going to fall on the shoulders of the team’s distributors, namely first-year guard Elizabeth Nye and fourth-year guard Morgan Donovan.

While only a first-year, Nye has already demonstrated an ability to take charge on the court and get her teammates involved. Last week against Whitewater, Nye was consistently putting her teammates in position to score as she racked up four assists during the game. If the Maroons are going to knock off the likes of Capital University and others this weekend at the Manchester Tournament, Nye, as well as Donovan and others, are going to have to distribute the ball throughout the game.

Of course, it doesn’t take a look at these stats for the Maroons to know where, and how, they need to improve.

“We have to dominate the boards in order to win every game we play this year,” said Nordstrom. “Also, we’re focused on making good decisions while in transition and in the half court so that we can minimize turnovers and maximize scoring opportunities.”

With their mindset in tune with what needs to done, the Maroons will turn their attention to the Manchester Tournament this weekend. They kick off with a game at 4 p.m. today against Capital University.