Andrew Anastasio – Sports Editor –
After a 72-57 road loss to Le Moyne last Wednesday, the Owls women’s basketball team (7-17, 4-17 NE-10), returned home last Saturday where they were dropped by cross-town rival, University of New Haven.
“We were able to compete with them in both the first and second half,” head coach Meghan Brown said. “We didn’t match their intensity, and that hurt us.”
In the first half of play, the Owls shot just 26.4% hitting only nine shots the whole half. After jumping out to an early 6-3 lead, the Chargers led by Anh-Dao Tran, who led all scorers with 20 points, took the lead at the 15 minute mark, and would not look back.
The Owls turned the ball over seven times in the first half, and trailed the Chargers by 12 points (38-26) at halftime.
Coming out of the half, the Owls turned the ball over five times, and saw their deficit stretch to 26 points. The Owls would get within 16 points, but were unable to regain the lead resulting in their seventeenth loss of the season.
“As individuals, we need to make better decisions and play at the level we’re capable of,” Brown said.
The loss puts the Owls in a tie with Le Moyne for fourteenth place in the Northeast-10 standings. The Owls also find themselves in fourteenth place in field goal percentage, shooting 37.7 percent throughout this season.
Freshman Amani Lightbourne led the Owls in scoring with 15 points, while freshman Katie Stopera added 10 points of her own.
The current season has been the first losing season the team has endured since 2010. After coming off a 2011-12 campaign which saw the team finish 26-6.
The Owls return to action Tuesday Feb. 26 when they will face off against conference opponent Adelphi, who already beat the Owls 72-63 back on Nov. 14.
This time the Owls will have the luxury of playing on thier court this time around.
Brown said the team work will be an important factor in the team’s final game of the season.
“They need to rely on eachother and play together in order to be successful,” Brown said.
