By Chris Schmidbauer, Sports Information Director
Toledo, OH -- The Owens Women's basketball team, who are in the midst of a season high ten game winning streak, will head down I-75 on Wednesday to take on Sinclair, with lots of OCCAC implications on the line.
At the beginning of the season. the Express were picked to finish second in the conference behind Sinclair. Owens has won the last six OCCAC titles in a row.
As stated, the Express are currently riding a ten game winning streak, which began back on December 17, when Owens defeated Mott 72-63 on the road. Since that date, Owens has won the games by an average of 26 points.
Owens has gotten healthy contributions from their starting five. Four of the starters are averaging double figures in the points per game category.
The Express are currently led in scoring by sophomore Taylor Works. Works is averaging 17.7 points per game. Hot on her heels is reigning OCCAC Player of the Week, Moreina Moore, She averaging 16.1 points per contest. Shyah Wheeler is a shade below Moore at 15.5 points per game, while Whitney Thames is averaging 11.3 points a contest. Thames is nearly averaging a double-double per contest. She is averaging almost ten rebounds a game, grabbing 9.7 caroms a game.
One of the teams the Express beat was Sinclair back on January 9 by a final of 55-47. The loss represents the only one for the Tartan pride so far this season in the OCCAC. Owens's sole conference loss came back on December 5, when they lost at Lakeland, 63-55. Lakeland had been undefeated in the conference, but Sinclair's victory over the Lakers on January 28 put everyone back to even in the loss column in the conference standings.
With weather issues wreaking havoc across Ohio last week, the schedule is jumbled a bit, with many teams have to make up midweek games from last week. Sinclair has four conference games in hand on the Express, so the second head to head matchup is critical for the race of the OCCAC crown.
Currrently the Express are in first place by a half game over Lakeland, who has a conference game in hand on the Express. Owens will have an opportunity to avenge their earlier season loss to the Lakers this coming Saturday here at the SHAC.
The OCCAC showdown between Owens and Sinclair will tip off at 5:30 PM on Wednesday.
Notes
- Moreina Moore won OCCAC Player of the Week on Tuesday. Moore scored 18 points and had five rebounds in the Express's win over Lorain on Saturday. The game was the only contest of the week due to weather's postponement of the game against Cuyahoga. The two teams will Monday February 11 at Cuyahoga with the women's game starting at 5:30 PM.