The women’s basketball team split their two University Athletic Association home games this past weekend, topping the University of Chicago on Friday night, 64-59, and then falling to the University of Washington in St. Louis Sunday afternoon, 66-51. The ‘Jackets are now 19-5 overall with a conference record of 8-5, good enough for fourth place in the UAA.
On Friday, the game was close all night as the score was tied three times and the lead changed 12 times. The ‘Jackets jumped out to the early lead and were in control for most of the first half until the Maroons made a surge with less than two minutes remaining to take a 28-26 lead into halftime.
After halftime, the Yellowjackets regained the lead on a three-pointer by senior point guard Emily Bango to make the score 31-30 just minutes into the second half. The lead grew to as much as eight points, but the Maroons kept fighting and eventually overtook the lead again, 50-49, with five minutes left in the game.
Chicago extended their lead to four points after going on a 13-2 run. Bango sank three of four free throws to cut the lead back down to one, and a jumper by senior forward Emily Lyons helped the ‘Jackets regain the lead once again, 54-53, and force Chicago to call a time-out.
With just over a minute remaining in the game, the Maroons reclaimed the lead 57-56, but a clutch basket from senior forward
Danielle Muller as well as another from Lyons sealed the deal for the ‘Jackets as they went on to win the game, 64-59.
The Yellowjackets overcame sloppy play, evident by their season high 29 turnovers, with exceptional shooting to come out on top. The team shot 47 percent from the field including five from downtown, two of which came from senior guard Megan Krebbeks.
Bango had one of her best performances all season, leading the ‘Jackets to victory in a variety of ways. The senior captain had nine points, eight assists, seven rebounds and five steals in the game. She leads the UAA in assists with 117 on the season, averaging five per game.
The ‘Jackets had three players hit double digits in scoring. Muller, Krebbeks and sophomore Julie Marriott had 14, 10 and 13 points, respectively.
The ‘Jackets looked to make it two in a row and avenge a loss to No. 12 ranked Wash U. that they suffered in late January. As close as Friday night’s game was, Sunday was the exact opposite.
The game was not much of a contest, as the Bears shot lights out and had a double digit lead for almost the entire game on their way to a 66-51 victory.
Wash U. jumped out to an 11-0 lead in the game’s first three minutes and were hitting on all cylinders for the rest of the way, never trailing at any point during the game. The lead grew to as much as 22 points during the course of the game. Down 13 at halftime, Krebbeks hit a three-pointer in the beginning of the second half to cut the margin down to 10, but that was as close as it got.
The Bears shot 50 percent from the field and their stifling defense limited the ‘Jackets to just 31 percent shooting. The Bears shut down leading scorer Muller, holding her to just 3 of 11 shooting.
Marriott led the Yellowjackets in both scoring and rebounding with 16 points and 9 rebounds. The sophomore has really grown in her second year on the team, averaging 10 points a game and grabbing 6 rebounds a contest as well. She’s been efficient, too, shooting a team best 45 percent from the field.
The Yellowjackets will close out the season this Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. when they take on Carnegie Mellon University on Senior Day.
The graduating class of seniors includes Emily Bango, Danielle Muller, Megan Krebbeks, Emily Lyons and Joy Sadaly.
This year’s graduating class has achieved great success in their four year career here at UR, making it to the NCAA Division III Final Four in their freshman year, the ECAC Semi-Finals their sophomore year and advancing to the NCAA Division III Sweet Sixteen last year. Brackney is a member of the class of 2007.
