The UR women’s basketball team took a three-day road trip to the Midwest this past weekend for two University Athletic Association games against national powerhouses.
On Friday, the women traveled to St. Louis to take on the league-leading Washington University, ranked third in the nation by d3hoops.com. The Yellowjackets’ shooting touch must have boarded a river barge and left that night, as they shot an abysmal 23.5 percent from the floor, including a 4-19 shooting performance from three-point range. This cold shooting, combined with the Bears’ toughness on both ends of the court led to a 73-49 defeat.
“Washington played us incredibly tough and really just took us out of everything we wanted to run,” head coach Jim Scheible said. “It was a case of us not matching their intensity. We were too disorganized, coach included, to counter their intensity and execution.”
Leading the Yellowjackets was freshman Helen Baroody, who scored 10 points and added four rebounds. Point guard and junior Emily Bango chipped in four points, five assists and three steals.
The good news for UR was that they held their ground in every other statistical category. They had three less turnovers than the Bears and were out rebounded by only six boards. They also held a 13-5 advantage in second chance points.
The Yellowjackets then packed up their belongings and headed to Northern Illinois for a Sunday showdown with the University of Chicago Maroons. Chicago came in to the game with a 14-3 record, with all three losses coming at the hands of UAA foes.
The game was close and the Maroons held a 29-24 lead at the end of the first half. In the second half, UR chipped at the lead, but Chicago responded and with nine minutes left, the Yellowjackets still trailed by five points.
UR went on a 19-2 run that turned the 5-point deficit into a comfortable 12-point lead. Freshman Julie Marriott keyed the run by scoring seven points, including a three-point play that gave UR a 10- point lead and the momentum.
That run not only took time off the clock, but also life out of the Chicago squad. The Yellowjackets left the Windy City with a 66-57 win. For the game, Marriott had 14 points and five rebounds. Fellow freshman Alex Porter chalked up eight points and nine rebounds for the Yellowjackets, while senior Jessie Graham had 15 points and Bango added 12.
When asked about the long trip, Scheible pointed out that the best teams don’t use it as an excuse.
“The trip was long, but that can’t matter,” he said. “As a good team, and we hope to be seen that way, you have to be able to ignore things you can’t control and just focus on playing and preparing for each game. We did that both days, but with mixed results.”
UR, now 23rd in the nation, raised their record to 14-4, including a 5-2 record in UAA league play. They host rematches against the University of Chicago and Washington University in St. Louis on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
Moeller can be reached at amoeller@campustimes.org.
