Ajan Caneda
Senior Writer
The women’s basketball team overcame a 14-point second half deficit to beat Holy Cross at home on Jan. 26, but the Bison weren’t as fortunate in their second meeting against the Crusaders, as they fell 57-49 in Worcester, Mass. on Feb. 23. At American, another double-digit first half deficit led the Orange and Blue to a 54-43 loss on Feb. 27. The Bison are 13-15 overall (4-9 in conference play) with one regular season game remaining.
Free throw shooting was the main source of offense for the Orange and Blue in the Holy Cross game. The Bison made seven of its first nine attempts at the line, while holding Holy Cross to a missed free throw in the first half. Despite the free throw discrepancy, the Crusaders were strong from the field, shooting 53.6 percent (15-28) in the first half. This led to a 31-18 Holy Cross lead at the break.
“We got ourselves into a rather large hole in the later part of the first half and early part of the second half. We were not able to consistently string together defensive stops and offensive scores until late in the second,” Alyssa Dunn ’13 said.
In the second half, Holy Cross built its lead up to 21 points, the largest of the game. The Orange and Blue chipped away at the deficit behind a 75 percent free throw showing in the second half (12-16). Audrey Dotson ’15, Katherine Harris ’15 and Rachel Voss ’13 each made two free throws within a four-minute stretch that stifled the Crusaders’ momentum. The effort would not be enough, as Holy Cross made 12 of its 30 field goal attempts in the second half.
“We fought back very well towards the end when we started playing more like ourselves, but we just weren’t able to get over that hump,” Dunn said.
Forwards Lindsay Horbatuck ’13 and Dotson led the Bison in scoring with 15 points and 10 points, respectively. They also combined for eight steals. Romine and Harris followed up with eight points each. The Bison held Holy Cross to just 1-3 from the free throw line, but the Crusaders controlled the tempo of the game with a 20-4 advantage in fast break points.
Against American, the Eagles led the entire game. Horbatuck continued her dominance on the glass with 11 rebounds. Felicia Mgbada ’13 came off the bench, scoring eight points and pulling down eight rebounds. Tyler Craig ’16 added seven points.
The Bison were down 30-15 at halftime but fought back in the second half behind a 9-2 run that trimmed American’s lead to 10 with 3:36 remaining. Romine, who was scoreless in the first half, registered 11 points to keep the Orange and Blue in the game, but American’s balanced offensive attack guided them to the win.
“We are looking to gain some momentum to prepare ourselves for a competitive run in the league tournament and we have all the confidence in the world that we can turn things back around,” Dunn said.
The Bison close out their regular season Saturday night against Navy. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Sojka Pavilion. Seniors Ashley Baxter, Mgbada, Voss, Dunn and Horbatuck will all be honored before the game.