By Miranda Parrish
Elm Staff Writer
The Washington College women’s basketball team was on the road this week for two playoff games.
The first game was against Dickinson College on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. in Carlisle, Pa. The first basket was scored by sophomore guard Karry Kelliher in the first quarter. A foul led junior center Serena Pluta to the foul line; she made both of her shots.
This was followed by a layup by freshman center Kaitlyn Boggs, and another jumper by Kelliher. Senior guard Andrea Prestianne made her first three-pointer of the game as well. A jumper by junior guard Rachel Theim and senior center Lizzie Hudock contributed to the Shorewomen’s score, too. By halftime, the game was tied 24-24.
In the second half, the Shorewomen continued to fight hard. The Red Devils made the first two baskets, but Boggs made a comeback for the Shorewomen, scoring a layup. Senior guard Joy Sanders also sank two back-to-back jumpers.
WC was then tied but gained the lead with a jumper made by junior Amari Faust and a layup by freshman forward Kiersten Rose. The two teams continued to compete, with a three-pointer made by Dickinson and then a layup made by Prestianne. By the end of the second half, the Shorewomen were tied 45-45. The game went into overtime.
The Shorewomen were brought to the foul line many times, with Prestianne scoring one and Rose scoring two points. Two back-to-back jumpers by Pluta also contributed to the score. Four back-to-back free throws by Prestianne sealed the win for the Shorewomen, who ended the game 56-48.
“Our first game went very well as we performed well together on all cylinders, and we all contributed to this game in big ways, and we all played together as a team. We focused mainly on defense for the Dickinson game, and we’ve been practicing more offensively for the Gettysburg game,” Rose said.
The Shorewomen traveled to Gettysburg College on Friday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. in Gettysburg, Pa.
The Shorewomen started off the game with defense, but Gettysburg scored a majority of the points in the first quarter. Pluta made the first layups for the Shorewomen, as well as Sanders who made a jumper. Two free throws by Boggs also contributed to the Shorewomen’s score. By halftime, Gettysburg was winning 37-14.
In the second half, Hudock made the first layup for the Shorewomen, which was followed by two points from Prestianne. Faust also made two free throws and a jumper. Kelliher made a jumper and Faust was led back to the foul line, making both of her shots. Presitianne made a three-pointer. Despite these efforts, the Shorewomen lost 40-70.
“I feel like our season went well; we ended up going back to the conference tournament which is something that hasn’t been done here in women’s basketball for a while. We had some downfalls in our season that we could have fixed sooner but we continued to persevere and work through it to get to where we are,” Rose said.
While these were the last games for the Shorewomen this year, they look forward to next year’s season.