This past weekend was bittersweet for co-captain Ashley Mastrangelo ’06. Although the senior reached the coveted milestone of 1,000 points, a feat only nine other Lady Cards have attained, the women’s basketball team fell to Bowdoin in the second round of the NESCAC tournament, 61-46. However, the Lady Cards will have another opportunity to prove themselves, as they were one of the 63 teams that qualified for the elite Division III NCAA Tournament, slated to begin this Friday.
In the rematch with Bowdoin, the Lady Cards almost avenged an earlier overtime loss. The Polar Bears, ranked sixth in the country, jumped out to a 13-point advantage with 17 minutes remaining in the second half. With the Cards’ leading scorer Hannah Stubbs ’06 in foul trouble, things looked bleak for the women. Mastrangelo and her teammates, however, mounted a furious comeback, using a 19-8 run to cut the Bowdoin lead to just two points. It was during this run that Mastrangelo crossed the 1,000-point plateau, as she used an assist from co-captain Meghan Robinson to score her sixth point of the game.
“I’m really excited for her,” said sharp-shooting guard Ali Fourney ’09 of Mastrangelo’s feat. “Ashley has worked really hard this year. While it’s unfortunate that we lost, she gets another chance to add on to her total this weekend.”
Despite the valiant effort, the Lady Cards had no answer for Bowdoin down the stretch, as the Polar Bears closed out the Cards scoring 13 unanswered points to end the game. Even though foul trouble kept her on the bench for much of the second half, Stubbs led the Cards on the offensive end with 12 points, increasing her career total to 1382 points, just 34 behind all-time leading scorer Angie Palmer ’05. Also providing a spark on the offensive end against the Polar Bears was Niki Maletta ’08, adding 11 points in the contest.
According to Kelly Bowman ’07, the key to the Cardinals’ success over the past few seasons has been the unselfish attitude of players such as Mastrangelo and Stubbs.
“What really characterizes Ashley and Hannah is that neither player is focused on themselves and their records,” Bowman said. “They’re focused on the team being successful and getting better.”
While the women were unable to get past Bowdoin and into the NESCAC finals, the Lady Cards’ season will continue with their selection for the Division III NCAA Tournament. The Cards were one of four NESCAC teams to qualify for the tournament, joining Williams, Bowdoin, and NESCAC champion Bates. Last year, the Cards advanced to the sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, losing to Springfield College. For co-captains Robinson, Stubbs and Mastrangelo, qualifying for the tournament is one last shot for the seniors to achieve similar success.
“The NCAA [Tournament] is college basketball and it’s very exciting to be a part of it,” Moletta said. “I expect to do well this year if we play our game. The NESCAC conference is incredible with four teams in the tournament so we’ve already played the best teams in the country and I think we’re ready for whoever is to come.”
According to Bowman, the Lady Cards certainly have the potential to advance even further than last year’s sweet 16 appearance.
“One of our goals is to get further than last year,” Bowman said. “It would prove that our program is getting better year by year.”
The Lady Cards will travel to Mary Washington College to take on Muhlenberg College, winners of the Centennial Conference on Friday. With a victory, the Lady Cards would face the winner of Mary Washington and the College of New Jersey. With two victories, the Cards could potentially face off for a third time against Bowdoin in the third round, should both teams get that far.
“The fact that the committee took four teams from our conference shows what they think we can do,” Moletta said. “I’m excited to prove that we deserve to be here and hopefully get another crack at Bowdoin in their gym.”
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