The Cardinal women’s basketball squad ended its 2009-10 season on Saturday in the first round of the NESCAC tournament against the number-one team in the country, Amherst. While this was the third loss the Lord Jeffs handed to the Cardinals during the season, the 21-point loss marked the smallest margin of defeat the Cards have suffered against Amherst this year.
The game started slow as both teams found themselves missing easy shots. However, Wesleyan was able to take its first and only lead of the game at the 13:24 mark on two free throws by Sam LaCroce ’12. Amherst, however, did not let Wes increase its meager lead as the Lord Jeffs went on a 24-8 run up until the 2:29 mark of the first half. Wes answered, though, with jumpers by Kendra Harris ’13, Eileen Gaffney ’12, and a half-court shot by McKinley Tennant ’11 at the buzzer to go into the locker room down by just nine, 30-21.
Wes felt confident about its position at the half and planned to continue to try to cut into the Lord Jeffs’ lead by getting the ball to their post players and stopping Amherst’s drives to the basket. LaCroce managed to sink two free throws to bring the Cards within seven at the beginning of the second half, but Amherst answered with a steal leading to a lay-up and a three-point basket to quickly bring the lead back to 12. Wesleyan continued to battle, but the Cardinals were unable to whittle the deficit under double digits at any point in the second half. The 57-36 win for Amherst will send them to the NESCAC semifinals against sixth-seeded Bates, who pulled off the upset against third-seeded Williams.
Wesleyan finished the game shooting 27.5 percent from the field, compared to Amherst’s 39.3 percent. The Cardinals assisted on only five of their 11 baskets and committed nine more turnovers than Amherst (23-14). LaCroce was the only Cardinal to finish in double figures.
Wes finishes the season with a record of 8-15, their first losing record since the 1999-00 season, when the Cardinals finished with a 10-14 mark. This year proved to be a rebuilding year for the Cards, a very young team with no seniors. The team will have some work to do throughout the spring, summer and preseason next year to improve on this year’s record and try to fulfill their hopes of a berth in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2006.
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