This past week, the women’s basketball team went 2-1, including a win over Little Three rival Amherst, to claim a piece of the Little Three Championship with Williams. The Lady Cards also claimed a clear-cut 74-62 victory over Colby this past Saturday, but came up short in their attempt to break Bowdoin’s 66-game winning streak at home, despite an 18 point lead in the second half, as they fell 73-65.
The Cards had a great start to the week with a 58-53 win over Amherst. With the score tied at 13 in the first half, Ginny Hermann ’07 nailed a three pointer to spark an 11-2 run, which eventually left the Cards with a 16-point halftime lead. Despite a 10-0 run by Amherst to start the second half, the halftime lead proved to be insurmountable. Another run by Amherst cut the Cardinal lead to three late in the second half after several missed free throws, but clutch shooting from Kelly Bowman ’07 at the end of the second half led the Cards to victory.
Four days after the inspiring win over Amherst, the Cardinals traveled to Maine for their last away game in conference play. Despite six and a half hours on the bus and only a 20-minute warm up, the Cardinals jumped out to an eight point lead at the half, which they increased to 18 with 8:51 remaining on the clock. Down 55-37, Bowdoin slowly cut down the deposit and tied the game at 63 with a three-pointer. Despite the comeback from their conference rival, the Cards had an opportunity to put the game away at the free throw line in the final minute. However, Ali Fourney ’09 was unable to convert three free throws with 0.18 on the clock as the game went to overtime. Poor shooting plagued the Cards in overtime as they were unable to convert a field goal in the extra period, as Bowdoin scored the first ten points of the extra period and ended up on top by a score of 73-65.
“We were playing well and were up with ten minutes to go, but we struggled as they went to a zone defense,” said co-captain Hanna Stubbs ’06, who added 12 points in the contest. “We had trouble attacking their defense. Even though Bowdoin made some good plays down the stretch, we let up a little bit and let them get some easy baskets.”
The Lady Cards quickly shook off the heartbreaking loss with a victory over Colby on Saturday, in their second away games in less than 24 hours. With a 34-33 halftime lead, the Cards broke away in the second half with a 6-0 run to start the half for a 40-33 lead. The Cards never trailed by less than four points the rest of the contest, and increased their lead to 14 at 61-47 with 5:35 remaining on the clock. Despite a 9-2 run by Colby to cut the lead to 63-56 with 2:50 to go, the Lady Cards were able to overcome their previous free throw shooting woes as they went seven for eight at the line over the next minute, pushing the lead back up to 14 points. The women clinched a first-round home game for NESCAC tournament with the win. They would relish another potential match-up with Bowdoin should both teams meet later in the conference tournament.
“We know we can beat Bowdoin,” Stubbs said. “We really want another chance and believe that next time we will come out on top. Having a home game in the opening round is key for us though, and it’s always an advantage to play in front of our home crowd.”
The top scorer for the Cardinals in Maine over the weekend was senior co-captain Ashley Mastrangelo ’06, who picked up 19 points at Colby and 18 at Bowdoin respectively. Scoring 13 points earlier in the week against Amherst, Ashley’s 50-point week left her only 42 points short of 1,000 points. Mastrangelo has least three games remaining to have the honor of becoming the tenth Wesleyan woman to surpass 1,000 points.
“Ashley has played really well,” Stubbs said. “She has really stepped up and taken the games over on her shoulders. She really has taken the ball hard to the basket as of late, and I can’t wait untill she reaches 1,000 points.”
Stubbs herself has already surpassed the milestone at 1,324 points and stays in the third place all-time at Wesleyan, needing 25 points to reach second place.
Despite the impressive win over Colby, the earlier loss at the Bowdoin has put the Cardinals out of contention for the top seed in NESAC tournament. Wesleyan plays their last game of the regular season in the NESCACs when they host the Connecticut College on Feb. 11. The Lady Cardinals need a win to ensure at least a number three seed in the tournament.
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