Commanding the lead from the very beginning, the women’s basketball team showcased its skills in a 55-75 victory over Connecticut College on Saturday. Wesleyan defeated the Camels for the 12th straight season with marked dominance, when the Cards took an early lead and never fell behind.
Rebounding from Wednesday night’s loss to Emmanuel College, the Cardinals set the tone in the opening minute with two successful free throw shots by Erin Gold ’11. The visiting Cardinals continued to display strong performances throughout the game, and worked to stretch their lead to avoid another down-to-the-wire game like the 75-74 road victory over Bates the previous Saturday. Wesleyan ended the first half on a 7-2 run to break a 29-29 tie and head to the locker room with a 36-31 lead. The Cards started the second half strong and never looked back, ending the game with their largest lead of 20 points.
The Cardinals were led by impressive performances from Ali Fourney ’09, co-captain Meredith Lowe ’09 and co-captain Lucy Sprung G’08. The game was played in New London, but the opposing crowd did not deter Lowe from posting one of her best games of the season. Lowe finished the game with a season high of 17 points and 11 rebounds. Sprung also put up a double-double to lead the team in scoring, acquiring 26 points and 15 rebounds. Fourney, who broke the all-time women’s basketball career scoring record on Wednesday against Emmanuel, contributed 16 points to the Cards’ decisive victory.
“Our victory over Conn. was important as we look forward to this weekend,” Lowe said. “We played solidly for forty minutes and we managed our lead well, which is sometimes difficult for us.”
The Cards are now looking forward to weekend showdowns against Bowdoin and Colby. With both captains posting double-doubles in the victory over the Camels, the Cards look with anticipation to the final two regular-season games. Graduating a powerhouse class, this should be an exciting weekend to watch the final conference performances of Fourney, Lowe, Sprung and Shannah Lively ’09.
The Cardinals currently hold the seventh seed in the NESCAC and have clinched a berth in the NESCAC Championship for the eighth straight season. With so much talent and strong leadership from the senior class, the Cards enter this weekend with momentum, but also the hope for consistency. Victories over Bowdoin and Colby would give Wesleyan a 5-4 conference record and a good shot at a first-round home game for the second straight year. Bowdoin currently leads the conference with a 6-1 record, so the Cardinals will need to bring their “A” game if they hope to put the Polar Bears on ice Friday night.
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