The women’s basketball team has been here before.

In fact, the Bombers have seen adversity much worse than this three-game losing skid and shouldn’t panic yet. Looking at last season’s 1–6, this season’s 3–4 record doesn’t seem that bad. The Blue and Gold are ready to turn their striking on-court talent into some notches in the victory column.

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Women’s Basketball vs. St. Lawrence, Dec. 7

The Bombers lost to St. Lawrence on Friday, 72–60.

The Bombers have been playing decent basketball, and their past three games have been closer than the scores indicate. The effort has remained stellar, but shots have not been dropping for the South Hill squad. Despite the offensive struggles, junior guard Megan Rumschik remains optimistic about the team’s future.

“We are not too worried about our three-game losing streak because we have been in worse situations than this,” Rumschik said. “I guess you can say we know what we have to do from now on out, and we have to find a way to win.”

Sitting atop a 2–1 Empire 8 record, the Blue and Gold are still in the hunt for a second-straight conference championship. Their past three losses have come to top-notch teams, including undefeated 24th-ranked SUNY-Cortland and Empire 8 newcomer Stevens Institute of Technology.

In order to get back on track, the Bombers will need to continue stressing the transition game and forcing the ball up court. It is the best way to utilize their depth and strength and should help them find their way out of the offensive doldrums by providing easy buckets.

Sophomore forward Jeanine Burke said the easiest way for the team to climb out of this slump is to rely on its strengths.    “All teams go through adversity,” Burke said. “We know that we’re a talented team and we can get through this. We keep looking at our strengths and look to go up from here.”

The recent struggles can be traced back to the fact that the South Hill squad has had a hard time finishing on opportunities. Depending on how the Bombers perceive their struggles, especially the lack of scoring, the Blue and Gold may find some relief. They have already proven that they can put up big numbers after a 101-point onslaught over Hartwick College on Dec. 1. Rumschik said that as long as the team is not scoring, defense has to be a priority.

“Not scoring is obviously the most difficult problem we are having right now because we have never had that trouble before,” Rumschik said. “We are a shooting team, we are a team that can score 80 points any given night, but lately we haven’t been shooting well. When a team doesn’t shoot well, it has to pick it up on defense.”

In order to get back on track, the Blue and Gold will have to get back to pushing the ball and getting quick shots. Senior guard Kali Carnovale said that the team has to get back to its offensive roots.

“The style of offense we want to play is push the ball up the court and score in transition,” Carnovale said. “Unfortunately, we can’t do that all the time so we are looking to spread the floor on offense and get looks for both cutters and shooters.”

In the midst of this three-game losing skid, the Bombers have remained positive. Once the shots start falling, things should get back on track for the 3–4 South Hill squad. The Blue and Gold will return to the hardwood with some grit Dec. 27 for the Surf N’ Slam Tournament in San Diego, Calif.