Category: Women

Ajan Caneda

Senior Writer

The women’s basketball team had a solid start against Lafayette on Feb. 16, but the Leopards’ second half turnaround guided them to a 66-61 overtime victory over the Orange and Blue. After a low-scoring first half at Lehigh on Feb. 20, a late scoring run by the Mountain Hawks gave the Orange and Blue a 49-37 loss. The team is now 13-13 overall (4-7 in conference play) with three regular season games remaining.

Audrey Dotson ’15 scored nine points that led to a 13-9 start for the Bison. The Orange and Blue ended the half on a 20-5 run, leading to a 37-21 advantage at the break. Katherine Harris ’15 started the run with a jumper, while Lindsay Horbatuck’s ’13 free throw shooting and Shelby Romine’s ’14 two three-pointers cushioned the Bison lead.

The Leopards opened the second half with a 10-0 run. Dotson countered the blitz with back-to-back lay-ups to make it a 13-point game. Despite the effort, the Leopards scored 12 unanswered points. The Orange and Blue countered with a 6-0 run of their own and carried a 54-47 lead with 2:38 remaining.

“I think we went through too long of a scoring lull and allowed Lafayette to score the way they wanted to in the second half. They hit some important shots and made great plays and we needed to shut that down earlier in the half,” Dotson said.

Lafayette fouled Alyssa Dunn ’13 with seven seconds left in the game. She made one of two free throws to make it 55-53. Lafayette forced the game into overtime on a game-tying jump shot as time expired.

In overtime, Lafayette got its first lead of the game since the opening minutes of the game. The Bison were unable to regain the advantage, as they were outscored 11-6 in the extra period. Dotson led all scorers with 19 points. Romine was also in double figures with 11 points to go along with five assists.

Despite the Bison’s 16-point halftime lead, Lafayette’s 53.8 percent showing in the second half (14-26) propelled them to force overtime and claim the victory.

“The Lafayette game served as a reminder that the game isn’t over until the time runs out. In this league anybody can beat anybody and just because you have a lead doesn’t mean that the game is over,” Dotson said.

At Lehigh, the first half score was 18-8 in favor of the Mountain Hawks. The Bison offense was stronger in the second half, as they cut the lead to two with 4:31 left in the game. Unfortunately, Lehigh engineered a 12-2 run to steal the win. Romine led the Orange and Blue with 20 points, while Dotson scored 12 points and registered four blocks.

“I think in future games we need to keep focusing on our game plan and what we need to do to win games. We know that to win games we need to play our defense, outrebound our opponents and win the toughness battle,” Horbatuck said.

The Bison return to action on Saturday when they travel to Holy Cross before facing American in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 27.

Ajan Caneda

Copy Editor

Shelby Romine ’14 scored her 1,000th career point against Army on Feb. 9, but it would not be enough for the Bison to overcome an off shooting night, as they fell 44-35 in Sojka Pavilion. The Bison had a stronger offensive performance against Colgate but suffered a 58-51 loss to the Raiders on Feb. 13, dropping them to 13-11 overall (4-5 in conference play). Romine became the 20th member of the program’s 1,000 point club, a feat that was last accomplished during the 2008-2009 season.

“I feel honored. People look at the 1,000th point milestone as a personal achievement, but I couldn’t have gotten there without my teammates, coaches and parents who motivate me to put the work in. I’m extremely thankful because without them I could have never reached this goal,” Romine said.

During the game, both teams experienced offensive struggles, but the Orange and Blue came away with a 19-17 edge at the break. Romine scored 10 of her 16 points in the first half. Neither team got beyond a four-point advantage due to shooting woes from both squads.

“Now that we are in the second round of Patriot League play, I expect scores to be lower because everyone knows our strengths and weaknesses. We need to find ways past that,” Romine said.

In the second half, Felicia Mgbada ’13 scored a lay-up that gave the Bison a 22-19 lead. After Army regained the advantage, Rachel Voss ’13 and Katherine Harris ’15 made consecutive baskets to claim a two-point lead. Unfortunately, Army closed the game on a 20-9 run, including two key three-pointers and successful late game free throw shooting.

“I think offensively we were all a little off that game. That being said, however, we can’t allow ourselves to go through scoring lulls like we did and we are working on fixing that in practice. I also think Army executed their defensive plan very well which added to our scoring drought,” Audrey Dotson ’15 said. “On a positive note, the fact that we could hold Army to such a small number of points is a credit to our defense and hard work.”

Neither team had a strong shooting night, as the Bison shot 26.7 percent from the field (12-45), while Army made 26.2 percent (16-61) of its shot attempts.

Against Colgate, the Orange and Blue had double-digit performances by Alyssa Dunn ’13, Mgbada and Romine. The Bison relied on their free throw shooting early but missed free throw opportunities in the second half allowed the Raiders to pull ahead late and clinch their first conference win. Mgbada had 14 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, Dunn scored 14 points of her own and Romine continued her balanced play with 11 points and seven assists.

“In the next game, and in the games left in the season, we are really going to try and be more aggressive on offense even when our shots aren’t dropping as well as keeping up our defensive pressure,” Dotson said.

The Bison will face two conference rivals at home, as they battle Lafayette Saturday night and Lehigh on Feb. 20. Tip-off for both games is scheduled at 7 p.m. in Sojka Pavilion.

Ajan Caneda

Senior Writer

After staging two consecutive second half comebacks, the women’s basketball team couldn’t replicate the same performance against Navy, suffering a 61-40 defeat in Annapolis, Md. on Feb. 2. The Orange and Blue dropped to 13-9 overall, finishing the first half of Patriot League play with a 4-3 conference record.

Turnovers hindered the Bison in the first half as they gave up the ball six times in the first 10 minutes of play. The Orange and Blue did most of their scoring outside of the paint with all five of their three-pointers coming in the first half, including two from Katherine Harris ’15. Unfortunately, Navy kept pounding the ball inside, outscoring the Bison 22-10 in the paint. The score was 36-27 at the break.

“In both of our last two games we’ve dug ourselves a hole at the beginning that proved too hard to get out of. Both American and Navy pressured us and forced us into making more turnovers than we would like to at the beginning of the game,” Harris said.

Navy eventually regained a 10-point lead early in the second half, but the Bison were determined not to let the game slip away from them, as forwards Felicia Mgbada ’13 and Lindsay Horbatuck ’13 scored consecutive baskets to trim the lead to six. After a Navy three-pointer, the same duo scored two lay-ups to make it 41-37 with less than 10 minutes left in the game.

Mgbada scored the Bison’s final points on a lay-up, as Navy’s defense held the Orange and Blue scoreless in the last 7:27 of the game.

Horbatuck recorded her 13th career double-double and her 30th career double-digit rebounding game with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Audrey Dotson ’15 had nine points and six rebounds, while Shelby Romine ’14 finished with eight points and five rebounds. Harris and Mgbada scored six points each.

Points in the paint and points off turnovers stifled the Bison offense as they were outscored 32-20 and 16-4 in those categories, respectively.

“The good thing is that now we have a week to prepare ourselves for the second round of Patriot League play. Now that we have seen every team once, we know we need to focus on the little things and make sure we are coming out completely prepared to go up against what every team is going to throw at us,” Harris said.

The Orange and Blue will look to gain back some momentum, as they host Army tomorrow at 7 p.m.