The women’s basketball team was defeated by top-seeded Lehigh University on Saturday night after the second quarter marred what was otherwise a closely contested game. The Maroon and White followed up the performance with a loss on Wednesday to second-seeded Army.
After a 40-point loss to Holy Cross at home on Wednesday, the Leopards (4-12 Patriot League, 7-20 overall) entered Saturday’s game looking to give a better account of themselves on home court. The two teams opened the first quarter with a trade of 3-pointers, with senior guard Halee Smith connecting for the Leopards.
The Maroon and White continued to match the Mountain Hawks’ (14-1 Patriot League, 23-4 overall) scoring thanks to jumpers from senior guard Abby Antognoli, sophomore forward Tasha Chudy and a 3-pointer from freshman guard Talia Zurinskas, leaving the game deadlocked at 10-10 midway through the frame.
Although Lehigh sparked an 11-4 run, sophomore guard Rosie Scognamiglio’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer kept the game within striking distance, with Lehigh leading 21-17.
Just as in the Leopards’ previous game against Lehigh, the second quarter ended up being the deciding factor. The Mountain Hawks scored seven unanswered points to open the second en route to a 24-9 quarter. The Mountain Hawks connected on seven threes in the first half, a repeat of their dominance from beyond the arc shown in the teams’ first matchup.
“Last game they had a lot of threes off transition,” Zurinskas said. “We limited it a little bit, but they’re still going to shoot, that’s what they’re good at.”
It was another chapter of what has been a frustrating trend this season for the Leopards: losing control of games due to one lopsided quarter.
“If we can’t get the ball to go through the hoop on offense, we still have to try to be locked in defensively,” sophomore guard Teresa Kiewiet said. “It’s hard to give up a 12-0 run and stay competitive in the game.”
With lots of work to do in the second half, the Leopards came out of the blocks strong. After an early Lehigh 3-pointer, points from Kiewiet, junior guard Sauda Ntaconayigize and Antognoli gave the Leopards a 7-0 run of their own. Kiewiet would add six more points for the Leopards as the third progressed, giving the Maroon and White a 13-11 edge in the quarter despite still trailing 56-39.
Kiewiet would continue to tally up the points in the fourth, adding 11 more points to record a team-high 26 points on 9-14 shooting, one point shy of her career high.
“If I was open on the 3-point line, I was shooting it,” Kiewiet said. “It was going through for me in the second half, and my teammates were able to get me open off of screens and great passes, too.”
The Leopards would again outscore Lehigh in the fourth quarter, but ultimately could not erase the significant Lehigh advantage, falling by a score of 75-61.
“It felt like we played them really even,” Kiewiet said. “I was proud of the way we competed as a team, offensively and defensively. There’s just a few little things we have to pull together.”
However, Wednesday’s contest against Army (13-3 Patriot League, 21-5 overall) saw the Maroon and White stumble towards another double-digit blowout loss, falling 75-48.
After a dominating first half that saw the Black Knights jump out to a 16-point lead, the Leopards clawed their way back in the third quarter to cut the Army lead to a modest 10-point deficit. However, the Maroon and White offense again fell cold, and the Black Knights won the final frame 23-6.
The Leopards will battle Boston University (4-11 Patriot League, 10-16 overall) and Loyola Maryland (3-12 Patriot League, 9-17 overall) in its final two games for a chance at a home playoff game to open the Patriot League championship in March.
“We beat them before, but we can’t take anything for granted,” Zurinskas said. “We need to come out and attack them early, listen to the scout and get things done.”
Despite the Leopards’ position in the standings, Zurinskas emphasized how any team in the Patriot League could potentially cause an upset come tournament time.
“People have good nights, people have bad nights,” Zurinskas said. “I think you’ve got to really want it, and you’ve got to come out strong.”
