The women’s basketball team was beaten in two closely contested matchups this week, losing on the road against Monmouth University on Sunday before falling to Fairleigh Dickinson University at home on Wednesday night.
Monmouth (2-6 overall) opened a 9-4 advantage to start Sunday’s game, before senior guard Abby Antognoli and junior guard Kay Donahue each connected on scores to bring the game within one at the end of the first quarter. However, the Leopards (2-6 overall) lost control in the second quarter to go into halftime down 21-15. The Leopards would get their offense going in the second half, but could not catch Monmouth down the stretch, falling by a score of 60-54.
Despite the loss, Antognoli connected on a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter to surpass the 1000-point mark, making her the 21st player in program history to reach this milestone.
The Leopards looked to get back into the win column on Wednesday against FDU (6-2 overall). Both teams started slow, with a 3-pointer from junior guard Sauda Ntaconayigize starting the scoring over three and a half minutes into the first quarter. However, the Knights found the first meaningful run of offense, taking a 12-6 lead after the first frame, with the Leopards shooting just 2-for-12 and committing five turnovers in the frame.
Senior guard Halee Smith described slow starts as the team’s “Achilles heel.”
“It’s something we need to work on,” she added.
Although the Knights extended their lead early in the second quarter, Smith and Antognoli combined on an 8-3 run that saw the Leopards cut the lead to just two points at 25-23, eventually going into halftime down only 29-25.
The Leopards flew out of the blocks to start the second half, with a layup from sophomore forward Tasha Chudy being followed by threes from Ntaconayigize and Antognoli to tie the game at 33-33 early in the third quarter. Junior forward Emma Shields would add a basket just a few seconds later to give the Leopards their first lead since the opening minutes.
Despite consistent scoring, neither team could find a meaningful lead in the third, until a 9-0 run from FDU saw the Knights once again jump ahead by a score of 50-43. It was a rough stretch from the Leopards, which Smith attributed to a lack of focus.
“We just need to be more cohesive on defense and get the stops that we need when we need them,” Smith said.
The fourth quarter told a similar story, with the Leopards again starting the period the stronger of the two teams. Antognoli and sophomore guard Teresa Kiewiet both nailed 3-pointers to reduce the Knights’ lead before Antognoli tied the game with two minutes to play at 55-55.
However, the Knights found the killing blow in the final minutes with an 8-2 run to put the game out of reach.
“I think every game that we get these close opportunities, it prepares us more for Patriot League play,” Shields said. “We’re getting better every game in these situations.”
One of the key differences in the game was the Knights’ domination of the offensive glass, collecting 15 offensive rebounds to the Leopards’ seven.
“We gave up way too many offensive boards,” Shields said. “They had a lot of guards crashing and we just couldn’t contain them.”
The Leopards will play host to Wagner College (1-6 overall) on Sunday afternoon at Kirby Sports Center as they continue to prepare for the start of the Patriot League season in January.
“I think we just have a few stops that we need to get each game, and that starts in practice,” Smith said.
