This past Wednesday, Ali Fourney ’09 set the record for most career points scored in the history of Wesleyan women’s basketball, scoring 18 in a night game against Emmanuel.

Fourney, who last season became the quickest player in Wesleyan women’s basketball history to reach 1,000 career points, broke Angie Palmer’s ’95 record of 1,416 with a basket at the 7:49 mark of the second half. Fourney finished the game with 18 points, bringing her career total to 1,424 points with three games remaining in the regular season.

Fourney’s record, however, proved to be only the silver lining in a 66-55 defeat. The loss comes after a nail-biter win this past weekend against Bates and drops the squad’s record to 10-9 on the season.

“[Wednesday] night’s loss was a tough one,” said point guard McKinley Tennant ’11. “It was especially tough coming off such a great win against Bates last Saturday.”

From the start, it looked to be another back and forth battle, as neither team was able to build a lead of more than five points in the opening half. The largest lead for the Cardinals came with about one minute to play in the frame, when they stretched their lead to 30-27 after a three by Fourney. Emmanuel, however, was able to hit a layup before the half ended to make the score 30-29 at halftime.

Emmanuel went on a tear to open the second half, beginning the stanza on an impressive 26-9 run that ran the score to 55-39 with about nine minutes to play. The game’s next basket was made by Fourney, who cut the lead to 14 with a shot that also won her the record.

The Cardinals were able to cut the lead to 11, but their furious rally in the last five minutes got them no closer than nine. Emmanuel was able to answer the run and cooled the Cardinals enough to hold on for a 66-55 triumph.

“In the second half we could just not score,” Tennant said. “We started to come back in the last five minutes, but it was just too late.”

In addition to Fourney’s record-breaking display, the Cardinals received strong scoring performances from two players appearing in their final non-conference game. Lucy Sprung G’08 chipped in with 11 points, while Meredith Lowe ’09 added 10. Both players were also perfect from the free-throw line. Erin Gold ’10 led the Cardinals with 11 rebounds.

While the loss was a tough one to swallow, Wesleyan must regroup quickly to make a run at the postseason. Currently, the Cardinals are clinging to the seventh seed in the NESCAC. Only the top eight teams advance to the playoffs—and with two of the squad’s remaining three games against teams ranked below them, it is crucial for the Cardinals to find their game quickly to avoid missing out on the postseason for the first time since the 2000-01 season.

While Wednesday’s loss to Emmanuel was certainly a setback, the Cardinals are putting the memory behind them to focus on these important upcoming conference tilts.

“We all know we didn’t play our game against Emmanuel,” Tennant said. “But our mindset now is that we have three games left and we need to win them all.”

Wesleyan begins its march toward the postseason with a game at travel partner Connecticut College on Saturday, the team’s third straight road NESCAC weekend. The Cardinals then return home the following weekend for their final regular-season action as Bowdoin and Colby come to town.