Photo By Marie Gilbert
By Logan Moyer, Assistant Sports Editor
The basket at O.W. Houts Gymnasium on Wednesday night might as well have been the size of a hula hoop.
Susquehanna scored 109 points in a 49-point win over Goucher in a Landmark Conference matchup, recording a triple-digit scoring tally for the first time in 24 years.
Prior to Wednesday night, the last time the SU women’s team scored over 100 points in a game was Nov. 29, 1999. The team defeated Pitt-Greensburg 101-45 in the season opener. The program record for points in a single game is 124, set in 1995.
Carly George led the way for SU. The sophomore forward scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds in her first career start.
“It’s definitely a great feeling,” George said. “It was team basketball. All of us contributed tonight, so it was just a great feeling.”
George obliterated her previous career-high of 10 points, which was set earlier this season in a matchup against Penn College. After logging just eight minutes in SU’s previous game against York, she doubled her playing time on Wednesday night.
Along with junior guard Kenzie Selvaggi, George was one of two River Hawks making their first start of the year. This was after seeing no changes in the starting lineup throughout the first four games of the season.
“We told the girls at the beginning of the year that I didn’t want to put a big emphasis on starters this year,” said Susquehanna coach Gabby Holko. “I think we have a talented 17 women team. I think that anytime somebody’s number is called; they’re going to be able to step up and rise to the occasion. Carly George did just that.”
Led by George, the River Hawks (3-2 overall, 1-0 Landmark) dominated down low as they outrebounded the Gophers (0-5, 0-1) 54-35 and outscored them 58-20 in the paint.
“We knew that (Goucher) was going to throw some zone (defense) at us, we knew that they were going to throw some man (defense) at us,” Holko added. “We needed to attack the gaps. We needed to be able to get paint touches.”
George shot an efficient 8-13 from the field, a theme for Susquehanna in the win. SU shot 54% from the field and 52% from deep, making 11 three-pointers. Alongside George, six River Hawks scored over 10 points: Kaitlyn Lynch (16), Julia Roth (13), Selvaggi (13), Elke Staver (12) and Lauren Klein (12). Staver’s 12 points came in just 6:09 on the court.
“We needed to play through the inside because then our outside shots were going to open up,” Holko said. “We said get easy buckets, get inside, get some layups, feel good about and then start to move it out.”
Passing was a key part of SU’s offensive success, as the River Hawks recorded 33 assists. Five different players recorded at least four.
“We wanted 15 for the game, and they went out and doubled it,” Holko said. “As coaches, we’re super proud of the way they attacked that game.”
On the defensive end, SU held Goucher to just 32% shooting from the field and 24% from deep. Even so, Holko said that she wasn’t satisfied with the performance on that end of the court.
“I think that’s an area we need to work on,” she said. “We gave up too many straight-line drives (to the basket).”
Usually, the River Hawks only play one conference game before the calendar flips over into the next year. This year, they play four due to the Landmark Conference’s addition of Lycoming and Wilkes.
“I think a big thing for us is that we need to be able to take care of business,” Holko said. “We’re not looking at any games ahead. We have Moravian up next and that’s who we’re focusing on.”
The SU women will host Moravian 4 p.m. Saturday as part of the back end of a doubleheader at Houts Gymnasium. The Greyhounds are 1-4 to start the year after picking up their first win against Drew on Wednesday night.