BY Chrissy Segrest
Elm Staff Writer
With the winter sports season coming to a close, the women’s basketball team is the closest to a playoff season they have been in in recent years. To finish out the season, the women played some of the toughest competition in the conference: Haverford College, Ursinus College, and nationally ranked #22 Gettysburg College. The Shorewomen went 2-1 against these teams, only falling to Haverford College.
On Thursday, Feb. 6 the college and the nation celebrated National Women’s in Sports Day. The Shorewomen faced off against HC and fell behind in the first quarter where they just couldn’t rebound enough to put a win in the books.
The seniors dominated the game with Taylor Samuels, who was named Goose Nation TV Shorewoman Player of the Game had a team high of 10 rebounds and four blocks. Bridget McLaughlin had seven points and Cassidy Quattro had six points and a career high of five rejections.
Coming back almost a week later, the Shorewomen took on the Ursinus College Bears and won on a set of free throws from sophomore Crystal Jones with only 0.2 seconds left.
With 3:21 left in the first quarter, the Bears lead 14-8 after going on an 8-0 run. To finish the first quarter, Samuels hit a three and freshman Andrea Prestianne had a layup to be trailing only by three at 16-13.
At the 6:50 mark in the second quarter, freshman Emilee Cramer had a jumper which brought the score to a 19-all tie. To finish out the quarter and send them to halftime, junior Gemma Mochi had a layup and a three pointer, to go along with senior Caitlyn Clark’s layup to bring the score to 37-31.
With only 5:11 left in the third quarter, the Bears still lead 42-36, but the Shorewomen would go on a 6-0 run to even the score. Their first lead of the game came in the fourth quarter, when Samuels had a layup 2:35 minutes in. With 33 seconds left, UC had a chance to secure win the contest but missed both free throws, leaving the score at 63-62.
With 3.2 seconds left, Quattro was able to gather the ball on the rebound of the second throw and call a time out. From here, with only 0.2 seconds left, Jones was fouled. She cleared her mind and made both shots, allowing a victory of 64-63.
“I would just like to thank my family, friends, and all the fans that came to support our team during my college career.” McLaughlin said. “All the support means a lot and couldn’t have done it without it. Basketball has been a huge part of my college experience and I am so grateful for it.”
Using momentum from a huge victory, WC was able to beat nationally ranked #22 Gettysburg College on Senior night, which honored the team’s six seniors; Samuels, Quattro, Clark, McLaughlin, Samantha Howell, and Rosie Martin.
Martin, a 5’5” guard from Wyckoff, NJ, was named the teams most improved player in 2018. A transfer from CC opponent Muhlenberg College, she has played in 68 games in her WC career.
Howell, a 5’8” forward from Chevy Chase has been named to the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll twice in her career. She’s played in 45 contests in her career.
Clark, another 5’5” guard, from Media Pa., has won a list of awards. The 2018 Team MVP gathered Goose Nation TV Shorewoman Player of the Game 10 times. Shorewoman Player of the week five times, and a CC Player of the Week once. A team captain at WC, she found herself on the 2019 Centennial Conference All-Sportsmanship team.
Samuels, a 5’10” forward, from Elkton, found herself playing in 96 contests, and gathering a double major in Biology and Psychology. A four-time Goose Nation TV Shorewoman player of the game, she found herself named team captain before her Junior season.
Quattro, the only six-footer on the staff, gathered dozens of accolades while playing. The four-time Shorewoman of the week, and seven-time Goose Nation TV Shorewoman Player of the game, she found herself on the CC Academic Honor Roll team in 2018.
McLaughlin, a 5’10” guard from Newark DE is arguably one of the most decorated players in recent years. The 2019 Team MVP, All-Centennial Conference Honorable mention selection, team captain improved her numbers every season in every category. The three-time Shorewoman of the week and four-time Goose Nation TV Shorewoman Player of the Game, McLaughlin was named team captain for her senior season.
Starting the game 10-4 in the first three minutes, WC knew the Bullets would be a tough, tough win. WC answered back with their own eight points to cut the Bullets lead to only two. Mochi and sophomore Emily Helms hit back-to-back three’s post a jumper from McLaughlin. The first quarter ended with the bullets leading 19-16.
The second quarter started with a bang, as WC took the first ten points in 90 seconds, jumping to a 26-19 lead. With 6:09 left in the quarter, GC found nine more points to even the score at 26 each.
Going into halftime, the Shorewomen found themselves down 41-39 and knew they couldn’t give up.
Quattro started off the third quarter with a layup to find the spark, but by the end of the quarter they found themselves in an eight-point deficit at 60-52 going into the final quarter.
With four minutes left in the contest, the Shorewomen trailed 73-65 but managed to gather 11 points to cut the lead to three with 33 seconds left. Clark gathered the rebound and hit a two, and then Prestianne managed one of two free throws. Jones hit a jumper using the same momentum.
Quattro found herself with the ball on the line with only 1.8 seconds left, tied 76 all. She would go on to make her first shot, and that was enough for the win.
In their final home contests, Clark boasted eight points and a team high four assists, while Quattro had a game high two steals and eight points herself. Jones finished 7-16 from the floor and had a team best five boards. Samuels was named the Goose Nation TV Shorewoman Player of the Game, for the last time in her collegiate career.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better end to my college career.” States Quattro. “Especially having my family travel from such long distances for my last game at Cain. And then to hit the last second shot was icing on the cake.”
