By Grace Hogsten
Copy Editor
After seven straight victories, Washington College women’s basketball lost two games this week against McDaniel College and Dickinson College, with scores of 51-43 and 55-51 respectively. While the Shorewomen’s previous wins saw the team rising to a fourth ranking in the Centennial Conference, its recent losses let it fall to fifth place.
“We are focused on this week’s competition as these are important games for us and our chances of earning a spot in the Centennial Conference playoffs,” senior guard Avery Thomas said.
WC hosted McDaniel’s Green Terror on Feb. 5, a tense contest that broke WC’s seven-game winning streak.
With only 4:07 remaining in the first quarter, the Shorewomen had only scored four points to the Green Terror’s 10. However, WC soon evened the score thanks to a jumper by senior guard Karry Kelliher with 2:15 to go. Despite the home team’s best efforts, McDaniel pulled ahead and closed the quarter with a count of 13-10.
WC’s score dragged behind the Green Terror’s for the majority of the second quarter, until Kelliher made a basket off of a layup by junior forward Abby Meredith that elevated the team to a lead of 21-19 with 4:41 to go. The Shorewomen netted nine more points and ended the first half with a score of 25 to McDaniel’s 22.
“We…have different goals for each game depending on the other teams’ personnel. However, every game, we focus on our team defense and making sure that everyone is involved offensively,” Kelliher said.
A three-point basket by Meredith in the third quarter saw WC leading by their widest berth of the game with 6:29 left in the stanza. The Shorewomen stayed ahead, with the board reading 34-32 as the quarter came to a close.
The final quarter began with seven points in a row on the board for McDaniel, which made the score 39-34 in the opposition’s favor by the time the game had 7:29 left. Determined to return to the front, WC increased its count by six; at 5:49 to go, senior forward Kiersten Rose netted a three-pointer with Kelliher’s assistance that bumped the Shorewomen ahead 40-39.
Only 18 seconds later, a Green Terror layup flipped the score to 41-40, and this time, McDaniel did not let its lead go, earning 12 more points to WC’s three.
“We have had our ups and downs with wins and losses…but we have kept pushing through, which is something I’m proud of,” Rose said.
On Feb. 8, the Shorewomen met the Dickinson Red Devils in Carlisle, Pa. for a close match that would see the score fluctuating back and forth until its final minutes.
Junior center Kaitlyn Boggs scored the game’s first nine points, including four layups and a free throw. Kelliher joined the mix with a layup seven minutes in. However, after the first quarter, the Red Devils seized a 14-12 lead.
WC evened the score in the second quarter, netting 10 points to Dickinson’s eight thanks to field goals by Kelliher, Boggs, and junior guard Emma Robinson. With only 3:47 until halftime, the Shorewomen stepped ahead with a score of 21-20.
Rose put another point on the board with a free throw, keeping the team in the lead with a wider berth before the Red Devils fired back with two free throws that tied the score by the stanza’s end.
The third quarter was the game’s highest-scoring as players sank baskets on either side of the court. Meredith led the Shorewomen with a three-pointer as a strong start, and WC quickly scored eight points to Dickinson’s two. By the beginning of the fourth quarter, the visiting Shorewomen had racked up 21 points to the opposition’s 16 for a score of 43-38.
The Red Devils put four points on the board at the start of the final stanza, threatening to overtake the Shorewomen’s lead with the score reading 43-42 before a layup from Boggs raised the score by two with only 8:14 left in the game.
WC did not net another field goal until the contest had only three minutes remaining and the teams were tied 51-51. The score stood still until the game’s final 19 seconds, when a three-pointer by Dickinson bumped the opposition to a 54-51 lead.
In the competition’s final moments, the Shorewomen put forth a valiant effort to seize more points. With 11 seconds left, Meredith delivered an unsuccessful driving layup attempt, and an attempted three-pointer from Kelliher aided by Robinson could not take the cake either. Dickinson raised their score by one with a rebound and a foul, winning the game 55-51.
While the Shorewomen dropped one spot in Centennial Conference ranking, they are sitting in fifth place with the possibility of making a comeback.
“The season has been incredibly rewarding so far. We’ve seen great progress as a team and have built a strong foundation. We take every practice and game as an opportunity to grow as players,” Thomas said.
After hosting Swarthmore College on Feb. 12, WC will travel to Allentown, Pa. to face off with Muhlenberg College.