The women’s basketball team won back-to-back games for just the second time this season, defeating Boston University 63-58 last Saturday, securing a home playoff berth in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament. The Leopards followed up their win with another narrow 57-54 victory against Loyola Maryland University on Wednesday night.
Saturday’s game was the team’s senior night, with senior guards Halee Smith and Abby Antognoli both honored for their achievements as Leopards, along with senior guard Kylie Favours, who missed the game for personal reasons.
“It’s been a lot of ups and downs,” Smith said. “Basketball is a long season, there’s a lot of mentality that goes into it. Having Kylie and Abby by my side has been really an amazing thing for me.”
“I wouldn’t have traded it for the world,” Antognoli said. “I’ve met some of my closest friends on this team.”
The Leopards started out strong defensively, limiting the Terriers to 2-10 from the field through the first five minutes. A four-point run from sophomore guard Teresa Kiewiet opened up an early 8-5 lead.
Boston managed a 9-4 run of their own after a timeout to retake the lead, but a layup from Kiewiet closed the first interval with the teams level at 14-14. The teams remained deadlocked as the second quarter began, but a 9-0 run led by Smith, Antognoli and Kiewiet sparked the Leopards to take a 28-21 advantage.
But, the Leopards quickly squandered the lead, committing six turnovers in the final five minutes of the half to allow the Terriers to tie the game 28-28 at halftime. Smith said the team made a point of resetting its mentality after the scoring drought.
“We couldn’t let ourselves get frustrated, or the more turnovers would come and the more plays they could make,” Smith said.
Boston continued their pre-half run by ripping off seven unanswered points to start the second half, butting the Leopards in a 35-28 hole and forcing head coach Kia Damon-Olson into calling a timeout.
Smith ended the Terriers’ run with an and-one layup to get the Leopards back on track. Smith’s play sparked a 13-5 Leopard run, with sophomore forward Brynn Beffert giving the Leopards the lead after back-to-back 3-pointers from junior guard Sauda Ntaconayigize.
“This game shows that we have versatility with our bench,” Smith said. “Everyone can come in and bring their ‘A’ game and do what they need to do to get the win.”
The contest remained tightly knit in the third as the Terriers nudged ahead at the end of the quarter, managing a 46-45 lead heading into the final interval.
The Leopards brought home the spoils after they sparked a 12-4 run to open the quarter to secure a seven-point lead that they did not surrender for the rest of the game. Kiewiet recorded eight points in the quarter en route to a team-high 19.
“We’ve been in this situation a lot this season,” Antognoli said. “Everyone was confident that we could finish, and we have great foul shooters. Once Teresa got the ball, I knew those were going in.”
Before the Leopards took to the postseason, they faced off against Loyola (3-15 Patriot League, 9-20 overall) on Wednesday night.
Although the Maroon and White pulled out the victory, their last game of the regular season was a clunky one: the teams put up a combined 38 turnovers in a contest where the officials were quick to call numerous travels.
Early on, the Leopards locked in defensively, holding the Greyhounds to 3-16 shooting in the opening frame en route to a 13-8 lead. Loyola rallied back in the second quarter, outpacing the Maroon and White 14-10 to make it a 1-point game going into halftime.
Coming out of the half, the Leopards fired on all cylinders, putting up 21 points in the third quarter on 50% shooting from the field and from 3-point range. The Loyola offense did just enough to hang around in the second half, as the squads remained in a tight battle down the stretch, but the Leopards ultimately had just enough to hold onto the win.
Kiewiet again paced the Leopards in scoring, putting up 17 points on an efficient 6-11 shooting. Antognoli and Smith each added double figures as well, with 16 and 10 points, respectively.
The victories confirmed that the Leopards will host a play-in game in the opening round of the Patriot League Tournament on Saturday against American University (1-17 Patriot League, 1-28 overall).
“I’m really excited and glad to be back here one more time,” Antognoli said.
