The Marshall University women’s basketball team will play the University of Alabama at Birmingham at the Cam Henderson Center 11:30 a.m. Thursday.

The Herd enter the game on a three-game losing streak, and members of the team said they know its critical the team rediscover its winning ways with only four games remaining in the regular season before the start of the conference tournament.

“We have four more regular season games left,” junior forward Tequila Hamilton said. “This could make or break our season because once the team gets on a losing streak, it is hard to come back from that.”

Hamilton’s point is well taken as the team is coming off its second worst loss of the season in a 77-55 defeat to Old Dominion University Saturday.

The team said the major areas of improvement following the ODU game are to improve defensively and limit its number of fouls. In Saturday’s loss the Herd sent ODU to the foul line 29 times and took just four attempts from the charity stripe itself.

However, Hamilton said the team’s recent defensive performances have more of an anomaly as opposed to regularity for the Herd this season.

“I feel like we have been fouling a lot and that is uncharacteristic of us,” Hamilton said. “We are usually a solid defensive team, which is why we have had so much success in winning, and our defense has not been up to par.”

Heading into the contest against UAB, the team said its aware of how crucial the game is in terms of giving themselves confidence and momentum heading into the stretch run of the season.

“Right now, our spirits are kind of down because we have dropped three in a row,” junior forward Kiana Evans said. “So, we need this next one so we can finish the season on a great stretch.”

Christian Hisman can be contacted at [email protected].