By Maddy Lanning, Staff Writer
Opening up the season, Susquehanna’s women’s basketball team faced Johns Hopkins University in what ended in a hard fought loss, 74-65.
In the first quarter, the River Hawks were carried by sophomore guard Amanda Lemire and junior guard Erin McQuillen’s back-to-back jump shots.
“The jumpers that me and Amanda made in the beginning of the game gave our team a lot of momentum,” McQuillen said. “As we knew that playing against Johns Hopkins was going to be a tough game.”
Throughout the quarter the River Hawks would put eight more points on the board while Hopkins would out score them by seven, sending the team into the second quarter down 21-14.
Diarra Oden and Erin Walsh of Hopkins both put up 2-pointers to extend their lead early in the second quarter.
Lemire added four more points to shorten up the score, but the Blue Jays were able to return the favor. In the last few minutes of the half, the Blue Jays went on a 14-10 scoring streak and went into halftime with an 11 point advantage over the River Hawks.
Coming back after halftime, the team went on a 10-5 run to start the third quarter. Lemire had six of 10 of the River Hawks points during their run.
“There are a lot of things we need to work on, but that game gave us confidence in knowing we can compete with any team,” Lemire said.
Although they were able to cut the deficit slightly, the Blue Jays were able to fight their way back going on an 11-5 run putting them up heading into the final quarter.
With a deficit of 20 points, the River Hawks were able to pull off an 11-0 run within four minutes of the fourth quarter to come within nine points of the Blue Jays. Sitting now at 69-60, Lemire pulled five of the teams points during this run.
With a few minutes remaining the River Hawks would only put up five more points ending the game at 74-65.
Though they lost, there were some stand out players and statistics that came out of their game. The River Hawks went 6-15 on three-pointers as well as making 13-17 from the free throw line. The team also dominated inside the paint with a scoring advantage of 28-22.
Coming into this game, the River Hawks were facing a team that received the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Division III Top 25 Coaches Preseason Poll.
“As we build on our team chemistry, and learn each player’s strengths and weaknesses, our performance will only improve,” Lemire said.
Lemire finished the game with 19 points and three assists. Junior guard Nevin Hoenninger scored a career high of 16 points while obtaining seven rebounds. Senior Rachel Sweger had seven defensive rebounds, two blocks and two points during the game.
The River Hawks are set to face William Paterson University at 6 p.m. on Nov. 20 at home in Selinsgrove, Pa.
