After a long hard-fought battle, the second seeded women’s basketball team fell to the third-seeded Bates in the NESCAC Semifinals, 60-51. The Cardinals dropped to a Bates team they had defeated earlier in the season at home, but could not overcome in the Bobcats’ home state of Maine. The Cardinals end their season at 20-4 overall (7-4 NESCAC), just one victory below last year’s total.
“I am very proud of our team’s accomplishments this year, we were able to get twenty wins,” said head coach Kate Mullen. “The team is disappointed that we didn’t play our best. We ran into red-hot Bates team later that took the number one Bowdoin to overtime.”
Both teams came out hungry in Saturday’s contest but for different reasons. The Bobcats were seeking revenge for the loss they suffered earlier in the season, while the Cardinals hoped to advance to the tournament final for the first time in five years.The game was close at the start with both teams trading baskets until Nora Bowman ’05 gave Wes a 16-14 lead on a pair of free throws. While the score continued to seesaw, the Bobcats eventually took control and had a 26-20 lead into the half.
Bates made the second half their own, going on a 19-4 run to stun the Cardinals. Wes brought the game to within nine, but the Bobcats defense stifled any offense that the Cardinals tried to get going. This defense was epitomized by the 20 turnovers Bates forced Wes into. Statistically the two teams were close with Wes leading in rebounds, assists, while Bates led in a steals and blocks. The Cardinals simply could not overcome the deficit and lost 60-51.
Tri-captain Meeghan Ward ’04 had eight points, while fellow captains Liz Walsh ’04 and Amy Posocco ’04 were held to only four points a piece in their final contest as Cardinals. Ashley Mastrangelo ’06 contributed ten points, five rebounds, two blocked shots, and two steals while Hannah Stubbs ’06 was once again the team points leader, with sixteen to go along with her nine rebounds.
“Wesleyan was up for an at-large bid consideration for the NCAA tournament,” Mullen said. “We did not receive the bid, but only six teams out of the nation received them, I’m happy for the seniors. They’ve had a great fours years in the program in terms of accomplishments of program and what they have done for us.”
The Cardinals will be saying good-bye to Posocco, Walsh, Ward, and Ashley Elia ’04. The women were a dominating force in the NESCAC this year, with many Cardinals taking the spotlight on the conference statistic list for the season. The Cardinals ended their season ranked second in NESCAC in scoring defense, second in field goal percentage, second in three point field goals, and first in rebounding defense. Stubbs was eighth in scoring with about thirteen a game, eighth in rebounding, and first in field goal percentage. Nora Bowman ’05 was eighth in assists, dishing out 3.33 per game. Mastrangelo also made the list for free throw percentage at eighth.
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