The women’s basketball team picked up a pair of victories to kick off the season at Williams as part of the Williams Classic Tournament this weekend. First, the Cards stole one from SUNY Plattsburgh, 56-49, after falling behind by nine at the half. The next day, the squad mirrored their previous performance, surmounting a nine-point deficit yet again to level Babson College, 65-53.
After twenty minutes of basketball, the Cardinals found themselves falling behind 24-15 against a deceptively competitive Plattsburgh squad. Following the break, the Birds ran away with a 15-6 run midway through the second half to take the lead 44-42. Forward Cherkira Lashley ’15 splashed onto the scene with her first collegiate double-double, posting 14 points and 11 rebounds. Lashley lead the team in both categories as well as notching a cool 50 percent shooting effort elevating the overall team’s 26.5 percent just a bit.
To complement Lashley’s remarkable effort, Kaylie Williams ’16 provided a jolt from the bench, dropping 13 points and grabbing nine rebounds on the contest. The rebounding pair propelled the Cardinals ahead of their opponents in that column by a margin of ten, a major enabling factor in the Cardinals’ impressive come-from-behind victory.
The Cardinals played a notably better half to conclude the contest, shooting 12-for-40 from the field after the half compared to just 6-for-28 in the first. To close out Plattsburgh, the Cardinals called upon clutch Dreisen Heath ’15 to sink a field goal as well as six free throws in the final 35 seconds of the game.
Playing at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts on Sunday, the Cardinals found themselves in a similar spot against Babson. Falling behind early on to the Beavers, the Cardinals did not delay the comeback effort this time around as they managed to pull within two entering halftime. The Birds outpaced their opponents in the concluding 20 minutes of play, posting 42 points on 37.5 percent shooting compared to Babson’s 28. All three Cardinal captains posted double figures as Jenna Klaes ’14 and KellyAnn Rooney ’14 led the way with 15 points apiece. Rooney put forth a commanding effort, inspiring the comeback effort with her team-leading 45 percent shooting mark from the field. Two of those shots came from three-point range in the second half as Rooney’s clutch sharpshooting spurred the Cardinals’ surge. Klaes started to heat up down the stretch, nailing all five of her free throws along with a clutch three ball in the waning minutes of play.
Meanwhile, Captain Jess Cherenza ’15 posted 10 points along with nine boards. Lashley was again a presence in the paint for the Cards, pulling down 10 rebounds, 6 of them offensive, to anchor the winning effort. Rebounding played a significant factor in the Cardinals’ winning effort as the Cardinals ended the match with a sizable 48-35 margin over their opponents.
The Cardinals will play one more game on the road against Western New England this Tuesday before returning to Silloway for the Courtyard by Marriott Tournament. The home side will defend their court against teams from UMass Boston and Albertus Magnus College. To impress their home crowds on Friday and Sunday, the Birds will need to bring home some of that comeback magic they conjured up in western Massachusetts.