Racking up their 20th win for the season, the Lady Cardinals handled NESCAC rival Connecticut College 64-39 with little difficulty in a Saturday match-up, just days after eking out a come-back victory in a sloppy game against Fitchburg State, 45-42. The wins improved the Cardinals’ record to 20-3 on the season and 6-3 in conference play. The Wesleyan women have now logged three straight 20-win seasons under Coach Kate Mullen, establishing themselves as a serious force in the NESCAC and Division III. The wins secured a fourth-place NESCAC standing for Wes and a first round tournament match up in Middletown with the Lady Jeffs of Amherst. Wesleyan had no trouble with Amherst twice this season, defeating them by convincing margins.
Against Fitchburg State Tuesday night, the Cardinals started off slowly in the first half. Despite a solid shooting percentage from the field, Wesleyan only attempted 19 shots in the first twenty minutes to Fitchburg’s 28. The Falcons took a 29-22 lead into halftime and extended it to 11 points early in the second half.
“I think at half time we were disappointed in how we had played,” said Nora Bowman ’05. “But we knew how much better we could be, and that gave us a lot of confidence.”
“We all knew that after our play in the first half, we deserved to be trailing by seven points,” said Ashley Mastrangelo ’06. “Although we were down, and even as much as eleven, we knew we would pull it together. It takes more than a few possessions to discourage us.”
With only four minutes left on the game clock, the Cardinals had closed the gap to three points, the smallest margin since early in the first half. Three straight Hannah Stubbs ’06 hoops in the next two minutes reversed the deficit, putting Wesleyan up 43-40.
“Hannah played really well against Fitchburg,” Mastrangelo said. “She made the baskets that we needed down the stretch. We outscored them in the second half and only allowed three field goals; our defense was key.”
As the seconds ticked off the clock, the score remained 43-40 until the 24-second mark. The Falcons fouled Bowman, putting the Cardinal’s ace free throw shooter on the line down by three. Bowman, who has been impressive at 86% from the charity stripe this season, did not disappoint, nailing both shots and putting the game out of reach. A last second lay-in by the Falcons brought the final score to 45-42. The Cardinals had themselves a great win.
Stubbs, with her 13 second-half points, led the way for Wesleyan with 22 points and 11 rebounds. In bringing home her 11th double-double on the season, Stubbs was the lone Cardinal in double figures. Bowman had nine points and four assists. Mastrangelo, who had a very rough day from the floor and only managed three points, still contributed to the team, hauling in nine rebounds and dishing out five assists.
“Everyone has off nights,” Mastrangelo said. “But I know that if I’m not hitting my shots one night, my teammates will pick me up.”
Saturday the Cardinals traveled to New London for the final game of their regular season. Though the Conn. College Camels had struggled mightily in NESCAC play, managing only a single win, the Cardinals knew it was a game they couldn’t take for granted. The Cardinals came out firing, outscoring the Camels 37-13 in the first half and holding the Camels to an anemic 20% from the field. Despite resting a number of key starters, the Cardinals maintained their lead in the second half, and the 2004-5 regular season came to a close with Wesleyan putting together an emphatic 64-39 win over Conn.
“I am really happy about ending the season with one of our best team performances,” Bowman said. “We played with a lot of intensity and I think we reached a new level of togetherness. Everyone contributed to the win and those are always the best kinds.”
Everyone on the team did indeed contribute, with a season-high eight players making hoops for the Cardinal team and three players scoring in double figures. Mastrangelo didn’t need much time to get her shooting touch back, leading the way with 20 points on 7 of 15 shooting. Sue Frost ’05 added 14 points and Stubbs dropped another double-double with 12 points and 11 boards.
“Conn. is a good team and they played hard until the very end,” Mastrangelo said. “It feels great to end the season on such a high note. Everyone on our team played well and we played together. Our defense was amazing and everyone was able to contribute.”
Amherst looms next for the Cardinals as their team turns its attention to the NESCAC tournament. The women will host Amherst this Saturday in a conference quarter-final game.
“Amherst is a great team and I look forward to playing them in our own gym next Saturday,” Mastrangelo said. “This will be our third time playing them so they will be preparing for us as much as we are for them, it will be a great game.”
As the Cardinals proved in the regular season, they know how to win games in a variety of ways. Come Saturday the team doesn’t care how they win, they just want to be on top when the final buzzer sounds.
“The NESCAC tournament is going to be very competitive but at this point there really aren’t any secrets,” Bowman said. “We’re pretty familiar with the teams we are playing and they are pretty familiar with us. It just comes down to which team wants it the most.”
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