By Melissa Barracato Staff writer
The Susquehanna women’s basketball team suffered its first loss of the season against Lycoming on Nov. 27 at Lycoming.
After a close first half, the Warriors went on a run and never looked back as they created a gap between themselves and the River Hawks on the scoreboard.
With the loss, the River Hawks are 3-1 on the season.
Halfway through the first half, the River Hawks were down by a basket with the score at 14-12.
Then the Warriors were able to force an eight-point lead with about four minutes left in the half until the River Hawks closed the half on an 11-4 run to push themselves ahead by one with the score at 32-31 to end the first half.
“We ended up finishing the first half pretty strong,” Head Coach Jim Reed said. “It was a back-and-forth battle. Both teams played tough on the defensive end.”
The Warriors came out strong in the second half and gained a nine-point lead, which the River Hawks could not overcome.
Susquehanna struggled to score points in the second half, shooting 28 percent in the period.
Late in the game, Susquehanna fell further behind when Lycoming closed the game on a 14-7 run to end the game with a final score of 66- 53 Lycoming.
Lycoming tallied 41 rebounds to Susquehanna’s 33. The Warriors also were able to score 15 points off turnovers, whereas the River Hawks only tallied 10 points off Lycoming turnovers.
“They garnered seven extra possessions because we didn’t get a shot on those [possessions] and gave away turnovers,” Reed said. “When you add the two factors of rebounding and turnovers, that’s really in essence how they won.”
Lycoming took 66 total shots to Susquehanna’s 49, with its field goal percentage at 39.4. Susquehanna also gave up 17 turnovers to Lycoming’s 10.
“You have to win the battle of possessions,” Reed said.
Starting seniors center Nicole Gault, forward Lexi Biggs-Garcia and guard Nikki Komara had six points apiece while the sophomore guard Bailey Trell had eight.
Junior guard Tess Nichols contributed four rebounds. Junior guard Angie Schedler and freshman guard Janine Conway scored 11 points each off the bench.
Freshman guard Rachel Sweger added 3 points and junior forward Courtney Adams chipped in 2 points for the River Hawks.
The bench made up 27 of the River Hawks’ 53 points in the loss.
Susquehanna has started out its season strong, despite this loss.
The River Hawks went undefeated for their first three games of the season.
However, they have faced some ongoing difficulties as injuries have played a role in keeping players off the court throughout preseason and into the current season.
“We’re finding our way, relative to who’s playing where and how much. It’s been tough to get a good gauge on where our team is at this point,” Reed said.
Looking ahead, Susquehanna will play at Goucher on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 2 p.m. in its first conference matchup of the season.
