By Gabrielle Devaud
Elm Staff Writer
With wins over Ursinus and Franklin and Marshall, the women’s basketball team has won five of its last seven games, giving them an overall record of 8-10 and 6-7 in the Centennial Conference.
Last Thursday night, the Shorewomen defeated Ursinus 49-41 after a hard fought game. WC took its first lead of the half at 13-12 on a free throw by freshman Erin Fitzgerald. A jumper in the paint by Tait gave the Shorewomen an 18-13 lead with 6:37 to go in the half. The Shorewomen scored the final four points of the half to take a 22-16 halftime lead.
In the second half, the Ursinus Bears came out strong scoring eight of the first nine points to take a 24-23 lead. WC scored the next four points to take a 27-24 lead on a layup by freshman Latisha Pledger. Ursinus countered with an 8-2 run, inncreasing their lead to 32-39 with 10:39 to go. With the score tied 34-34, Tait made a layup with 7:19 left to put the Shorewomen up for good at 36-34. With 2:11 left in the game, the Bears cut the lead to 41-38, but Tait responded with a jumper in the paint to give Washington a 43-38 lead. In the final 40 seconds of the half, Washington hit four free throws to secure the victory.
For the Shorewomen, Tait added a team-best 16 points, nine rebounds and a game-high six assists. Junior Sally O’Donnell scored 15 points, while Fitzgerald grabbed a game-best of 10 rebounds and blocked a game-best three shots. Freshman Kelly Mitchell had three steals to tie the game-high. WC held a 50-38 edge on the boards in the win.
Monday night, visiting WC dominated the game from the opening tip en route to a 77-54 Centennial Conference victory over host Franklin & Marshall College. The 77 points are a season high for the Shorewomen, who improved to 8-10 overall and 6-7 in conference play with the win. The 23-point margin of victory is their largest ever over the Diplomats.
The Shorewomen raced out to a 17-2 lead in the game. WC led by as many as 20 points later in the half and took a 36-18 lead into halftime. The Shorewomen out-rebounded the Diplomats, 24-7, in the first half and shot 17-for-31 from the field. Washington scored seven of the first eight points in the second half to increase the lead to 44-19. The Shorewomen led by at least 19 points the rest of the way. The Shorewomen finished the game with a 47-25 advantage on the boards and shot 31-of-62 from the field for the game while holding the Diplomats to 19-of-63 shooting.
Pledger shot 8-for-10 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the foul line to tally her career-high of 20 points. O’Donnell added 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Tait tallied 11 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. Sophomore Erin Kile added 10 points, while freshman Liz Warkala scored a career-high of eight points and matched her career high of nine rebounds.
Pledger is pleased with the Shorewomen’s record thus far. “I think it’s really exciting and it shows really good promise for the future of our program. I think we need to stay focused and maintain our chemistry on the court…‘History in the making!’”
The women’s basketball team returns home Wednesday to play Swarthmore at 6 p.m. in the Centennial Conference game.