The Wesleyan women’s basketball team now knows exactly how good they will have to be in order to be crowned NESCAC champions at the end of this month. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, that learning experience came to the tune of a 58-42 loss to the Bowdoin Polar Bears last Friday night. Despite the tough loss, the women rebounded with a dominating 57-42 win over Colby the very next day, improving their record to 18-3 and 5-3 in conference games.
“When we play our defense and everyone is hitting their shots, I think we could beat any team in NESCAC,” said forward Ashley Mastrangelo ’06. “Bowdoin is a really good team and we competed as best we could; unfortunately we lost some of our intensity in the second half. We prepared for them just as we do all the other teams, but of course we all knew it was more intense than any other game. Hopefully we will see them again in the playoffs.”
The Cardinals certainly opened the game with a healthy dose of adrenaline, taking an early 7-2 lead. After the early run, however, the Polar Bears flexed their muscles, showing exactly why they are the top ranked team in all of Division Three women’s basketball. With six and a half minutes to go in the first half, Bowdoin took their first lead of the game, 18-16, and would never trail again. The Cardinals went into half time trailing 31-27, and at that time looked primed for an upset.
“At halftime our plan was working and we were pleased with the results, but the second half wasn’t the same,” said Meghan Robinson ’05.
However, after a quick burst of points to tie the game at the start of the second half, Bowdoin ripped off a 7-2 run that stretched into a 23-7 explosion that put the game out of reach. Ultimately the game ended with Bowdoin on top, 58-42.
“The game was a disappointment because it was a big missed opportunity,” Robinson said. “We went into the game knowing how they were going to play, but we focused much more on what we needed to do in order to get the win. The zone that they sat in all night was much more effective the second half. We couldn’t get the ball inside to our posts as much as we would have liked to. It is just really frustrating to lose by that big of a margin to a team that you know can beat when everything is clicking.”
In the losing effort, Hannah Stubbs ’06 played another great game, scoring 19 points and grabbing 9 rebounds. The only other Cardinal in double figures was Sue Frost ’05, as the guard brought home 11 points on 4 of 8 shooting. As a team, the Cardinals had a very rough day from the floor. After shooting 40% in the first half, the team’s shooting percentage dropped to 25% in the second half, the poor shooting wrecking any real chance of a comeback by Wesleyan.
“Our offense stems from our defense,” Mastrangelo said. “Our defense was not particularly great in the second half, attributing to a low shooting percentage.”
Resiliency was the key word for the Cardinals Saturday night, as
they put the tough loss to Bowdoin behind them and beat a team they should have beaten, 5-15 Colby College. The Cardinals had an extra jump in their step on Saturday as the game was Senior Day, the final time on the Wesleyan courts for the team’s two senior co-captains Nora Bowman ’05 and Frost.
“The Colby win was satisfying because it was also senior day,” Robinson said. “I think we gave the seniors a win they really deserved. I personally went into the game really excited to play and show the resiliency of our team. I was just focused on playing a good game of basketball, and not concentrating on the loss the night before.” Mastrangelo echoed the comments, saying, “Our captains both played great, I’m glad we could play that way for them on their Senior day, they deserved it.”
Wesleyan opened the game with a 16-8 lead and never looked back, holding a 26-18 advantage at halftime. The Mules never got into the game, falling to the Cardinals 57-42.
Tonight, the Cardinals head to Fitchburg State for their second to last game of the season. “Fitchburg is a really good team and I am sure they have prepared for us,” Mastrangelo said. “We are going to go there and give them a great game.”
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