Photos By Logan Moyer, Sports Editor
By Matt Vargo
It feels nice to return home.
The women’s basketball team put on a show in front of the home crowd at O.W. Houts Gymnasium, dominating Eastern 65-44 Wednesday night to improve to 2-1, their first time above .500 in the early season.
After defeating Penn College 75-43 on Nov. 9 in the Chatham University Tournament, a game in which Susquehanna shot 44.3% from the field and 39.1% from beyond the arc, the River Hawk offense picked up right where they left off in the first half.
They shot 51.6% from the field and 50% from three as they built up a 40-24 lead by halftime. Individually, Julia Pinckert led the charge with 11 points and four rebounds on 4-5 shooting in the first half, but she also got timely help off the bench from Carly George and Annie Greek. George scored six points and grabbed eight rebounds and Greek scored six points on two big three-pointers.
“We were running our sets well and attacking the gaps,” Pinckert said. “We got to the rim, and we had the height advantage in this game and really took advantage of it.”
The River Hawks were playing without All-Landmark forward Julia Roth, who tore her MCL and ACL in SU’s season-opening loss to St. John Fisher. She is out for the season.
“Roth is obviously our heartbeat,” Susquehanna coach Gabby Holko said. “She’s somebody that is our leader on the floor (and) off the floor.”
In the second half the offense slowed down considerably, but the defense stepped up to ensure that Eastern (0-3) never climbed out of the hole. In the first half Susquehanna held the Eagles to 36.7% shooting from the field and 16.7% from three, but what the River Hawks did next toppled that first half showing.
They held the Eagles to just 21.1% shooting in the second half and just eight made field goals overall. Even though the River Hawks only made eight field goals themselves in the second half, they still outscored the Eagles 25-20 to reach the final score of 65-44.
George led the team in scoring off the bench with a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds on 6-10 shooting overall for the night, while Pinckert finished right behind her with 13 points and seven rebounds on 5-8 shooting.
The second unit overall stepped up for Susquehanna as they got 32 points from the bench compared to just five points for Eastern. The other major factor was the River Hawks’ control over the paint as they doubled the Eagles 36-18 in points in the paint.
Susquehanna now enjoys a week off before they travel to Maryland for a showdown against Goucher, a team that through two games has averaged 123 points per game on efficient shooting from beyond arc.
“The whole week of practice ahead is going to be about defense,” Pinckert said. “We need to learn how to close out. They’re scoring the ball at a high rate. We know they’re a very different team from what they’ve been the past few years, so we need to bring the defensive intensity and play our way of basketball.”
