By Louis Galdos
Elm Staff Writer
This week, the Shorewomen basketball team went on the road to Baltimore to face off against Johns Hopkins University, then played their second game of the week at home against Haverford College.
The Shorewomen first played on Tuesday, Feb. 4, for a Centennial Conference matchup, ended up being a closely contested game, until the final whistle blew. Johns Hopkins was able to take the lead and hold onto it for the duration of the game ending the match with a final score of 68-58.
Senior Bridget McLaughlin talked about her mindset going into the match up against Johns Hopkins. She said, “Our approach against Hopkins was to play as a team and play tough defense.”
The Shorewomen outscored Hopkins in bench points 21-8, and in fastbreak points 13-5. However, the Shorewomen were unable to take the lead throughout the game.
The Shorewomen now fall to an overall record of 8-12 and 5-10 in conference, and Johns Hopkins improved to an overall record of 12-7 and 9-5 in conference.
Sophomore guard Crystal Jones went seven for 10 with field goal attempts and hit all three of her shots from behind the arc. Senior forward Taylor Samuels had fourteen points, and went six of 10 for field goal attempts. Fellow senior forward Cassidy Quattro recorded 12 points, and a season-high 11 rebounds while yet another senior forward, Bridget McLaughlin, recorded eight points overall.
The Shorewomen shot 40.4% or 23-of-57 from the floor overall, 38.5% 5-for-13 from three-point range, and 77.8% or seven for nine at the free throw line.
Next, on Thursday, Feb. 6, the Shorewomen played against Haverford College at home in some more Centennial Conference play. However, similar to the Hopkins match-up, Haverford was able to take the lead early and sustain it throughout the game.
In the end, Haverford took the win 53-42.
During the game, the Shorewomen out-rebounded Haverford 51-49, and the Shorewomen had more bench points with a score of 13-11. The Shorewomen fell to an overall record of 8-13 and 5-11 in the league. Haverford improved to 17-3 and 14-1 in the conference.
Samuels added seven rebounds to go along with her team-high of 10 in just 28 minutes. McLaughlin contributed seven points and Quattro added six points, six boards and a team and career-high five blocks.
Senior guard and team captain Caitlyn Clark added a team-best eight rebounds. The Shorewomen shot 29.5% (18-of-61) from the floor overall, 14.8% (4-of-27) from three-point range, and 66.7% (2-for-3) at the free throw line. WC out-boarded the visitors by a 48-46 margin and their bench outscored Haverford by a 13-11 margin. They also swatted 10 shots compared to six by the Fords.
The Shorewomen play their next game this Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 6 p.m. at Cain gymnasium.
