The women’s basketball got back on track with a 67-60 victory over the Coast Guard Academy on Tuesday in New London. Ali Fourney ’09 led the way with 17 points as the Cards improved their record to 3-2 on the season.
Coming off a disappointing loss at home to Emmanuel College last weekend, the Cards turned up the intensity on the defensive side of the ball. They forced Coast Guard to turn the ball over 25 times and allowed them to shoot only 34 percent from the field.
“The team had another nice win the other night,” said captain Kelly Bowman. “Our defense forced them to turn the ball over 25 times, giving us the opportunity to play our offensive game.”
The Cards got a balanced performance on the offensive side of the ball, with three separate players earning double-digit performances. Nikki Maletta ’08 put in ten points while Meredith Lowe ’09 chipped in 11 points to go along with three rebounds. Fourney led the team in rebounds as well as points, collecting six boards.
After falling behind 9-3 to start the game, the Cards went on a 30-8 run and never relinquished the lead. A 15-2 run to open the second half pushed the lead to 53-28. Coast Guard would not go away, however, going on an 18-2 run to get back into the game and eventually closed the lead to just seven. The 25-point lead proved too much for Coast Guard to overcome though, and Wesleyan walked away with the victory.
With just two games remaining before a short break for exams and the holidays, the Cards find themselves rounding into form. Despite two loses to Emmanuel, their only losses thus far, the Cards have shown flashes of brilliance in their early season games.
Fourney and Maletta lead the team in scoring, averaging 17.8 and 12.2 points per game, respectively. Lucy Sprung ’08 has provided some solid performances as well as she makes her way back from last season’s injury. Averaging just 20 minutes of work per game, Sprung is contributing 7.5 points a game on 57 percent shooting and is tied for the team lead with 7.8 rebounds per game.
Defensively, Cardinal opponents are shooting just 37 percent and are turning the ball over 22 times per game. Maletta leads the team with 11 steals while Fourney has ten blocks thus far.
The Cards will round out their pre-winter break portion of the season with games against Springfield College on Friday and Rhode Island College next Tuesday. Both games are home.
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