Photo By Abigail MacMillan, Editor-in-Chief
By Matt Vargo
The third time isn’t always the charm. It wasn’t for the River Hawks.
The women’s basketball team fell 83-70 to top-seeded Catholic in the Landmark Conference Semifinals Thursday night at Franny Murray Court, ending their magical season with an 0-3 record against the ninth ranked team in Division III.
Although pulling off the upset would not be easy, Susquehanna (18-9) kept it close against Landmark’s best, trailing just 37-33 at halftime thanks to strong starts from Kaitlyn Lynch and Julia Roth. It was in the second half when the Cardinals (25-1) started to pull away as they shot 50% from the field, 40% from beyond the arc and perfect 8-8 from the free throw line.
“We just didn’t bring our best defensively today,” SU coach Gabby Holko said. “Catholic is a phenomenal team they had an answer for everything we threw at them, and they were able to hit some big-time shots.”
Many of Catholic’s big-time shots came from the duo of Anna Scoblick and Carly Mulvaney, who scored over half of the team’s points. Scoblick notched a double-double with a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds, while Mulvaney came along for the ride with 19 points as well as three assists and steals each. They also got timely support from Keegan Douglas and Kerry Flaherty, who each tallied 11 points.
Susquehanna also had four players score in double figures. Lynch led the way with 17, Roth tallied 13 and grabbed 8 rebounds, while Zoie Maffei and Sydney Weyant came off the bench to drop 14 and 11 points, respectively.
Despite the season coming to an end, coach Holko sees it as a massive success and something they look to improve upon going into next year with much of the same roster returning.
The River Hawks won a playoff game for the first time in 25 years and won 18 games for the first time in three decades.
“This season is a success,” Holko said. “We went above and beyond with everything we thought we could do. Our future is extremely bright, we have a young group, and we are really excited about the returning players we have coming back to this program.”
There are two players who will be moving on, however. Lynch, a graduate-student, and Madison Miller, a senior, played their final career game for the orange and maroon.
“Those two have given so much to this program on the floor, as a teammate, and as a family,” Holko said. “I can’t thank them enough for what they’ve given to this program, and I’m excited for them to be great alums for us.”
