DaytonDailyNews.com

Learning the hard way

Two weeks ago Miami University women's basketball coach Maria Fantanarosa refused to get overly excited about her team's 3-0 start in the Mid-American Conference. She cautioned that it was just three games.

A few minutes later, junior guard Amanda Jackson agreed. "We're taking it one game at a time," she said.

It's an old sports maxim that has been repeated perhaps a million times, but for this Miami team, this week, it couldn't possibly be more true.

The RedHawks (9-10 overall, 3-3 in the Mid-American Conference) will try to snap a three-game losing streak tonight when they face the Toledo Rockets at 7 at Millett Hall.

Just as it was too early for the RedHawks to celebrate on Jan. 10, it's too early for them to panic today.

The three losses came against the two division leaders (Bowling Green and Ball State) and an annual MAC powerhouse (Kent State), teams with a combined record of 39-13 overall, 16-2 in the league.

Miami's schedule over the next few weeks is a little less daunting. Four of their next six games are at home.

Which might not matter tonight. The Rockets are another traditional MAC power and although they've been a sub-.500 team lately, they haven't lost in Oxford since the 1994-95 season.

The RedHawks, a team without a single senior on the roster, remain a work in progress. Lately they've gained experience the hard way.

Fantanarosa is counting on that experience to pay off when it counts — down the stretch, when Miami faces Kent State and Bowling Green again in the final two games of the regular season, and then in the Mid-American Conference Tournament.

Points becoming scarce

Miami, whose average of 73.9 points per game ranks second in the MAC, has stumbled on offense in its last two games.

The RedHawks have averaged only 59 points in the losses to Bowling Green and Ball State.

Miami has connected on only seven of its last 39 shots from the 3-point stripe.

See ya, coach

Jackson, who scored the 1,000th point of her career in the 79-73 victory over Akron on Jan. 10, is tied for 14th place on the program's career scoring list with 1,059 points. Jamie Stewart (1996-2000) also scored 1,059.

Jackson already has passed Miami assistant coach Lisa Hayden, who is 15th on the all-time list (1,047 points, 1991-95). After passing Stewart, Jackson's next victim will be Fantanarosa, whose 1,086 points (1985-89) ranks 13th.