The women’s basketball team (8-13 overall, 3-7 Patriot League) continued to build its momentum last Saturday, decisively beating Army (9-11 overall, 6-4 Patriot League) with a score of 68-54 at home.
The game served as a celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Several Lafayette women’s sports teams hosted an all-girls sports clinic prior to tip-off and the student-athletes signed autographs after the game.
The Leopards completed the season sweep of the Black Knights, proving that they can compete with the best in the league — Army is currently placed second in the Patriot League standings — despite being ranked last. This was the team’s second straight win after a frustrating seven-game losing streak.
Junior guard Abby Antognoli and senior forward Kayla Drummond each had impressive performances: Antognoli scored 22 points and shot 81.8 percent from the field, while Drummond secured a double-double, putting up 19 points and 10 rebounds. The Leopards as a team shot 60.9 percent from the field, 20 percentage points higher than the program’s average for the season.
Drummond noted that winning two games in a row has “boosted the team morale.”
“To get two back-to-back wins is something that I think really has been able to get people even more excited than they were before to try to rack up some more before the end of conference play,” Drummond said. “I think it gives our team some excitement just to know that despite our position in the standings right now we do have a great opportunity to climb it.”
Antognoli, who leads the team in three-point baskets made this season with 42, sunk the Leopards’ only three-pointer on Saturday.
“I have been relying a lot on the three-point shot, and I think I only shot like two, and most of my shots were pull-ups or jumpers or getting to the rim,” Antognoli said. “So I had to just take what was given to me and that was what was there. So I’m happy that I executed in other ways out of my comfort zone.”
Army scored the majority of its points in the first half from beyond the arc thanks to several cross-court passes. However, the Maroon and White adjusted by breaking up passing lanes and totaling nine steals for the game.
“I think that although our game plan was to slow them down in transition, it was obvious in the first quarter especially that was not happening,” Antognoli said. “So we did talk about how we needed to limit their transition points the second half and get back quicker. Even on made shots they were getting down the court so quick, so it was about just sprinting back every possession, make or miss, and that was the difference.”
Drummond, who set her career scoring record on Saturday, has been a big part of the Leopards’ offensive turnaround — she is in the middle of a four-game double-digit scoring streak.
Interestingly, she noted that her offensive and defensive rebounding abilities are just as important to the team’s success.
“Rebounding is a huge part of our game plan for every game and that’s something that we think is really, really important,” Drummond said.
Both Antognoli and Drummond noted how much fatigue plays a factor as the team reaches the final stretch of its season, especially when most of the starters play more than 30 minutes per game.
“We have a lot of girls who play a lot of minutes,” Antognoli said. “So we all just need to be really smart with recovery and doing things outside of practice.”
The Leopards will face cross-town rival Lehigh tomorrow at 2 p.m. in Kirby Sports Center for Alumni Day.
“We’re just trying to definitely keep the momentum going with the games that we’ve had so far and the winning streak,” Drummond said.
