Aaron Johnson – General Assignment Reporter
NEW HAVEN – The Southern Connecticut State University women’s basketball team fell to 4-3 on the season – 1-2 in conference – after losing to the College of Saint Rose Golden Knights by a score of 77-62. The loss was the Owls’ first in two games after back to back impressive victories. Head coach Meghan Brown said she would like to see her team focus on limiting their mistakes going forward in the season.
“We have to be more disciplined,” said Brown. “Defensively we have to stop hanging our heads when mistakes happen. The team needs to do a better job of pulling together in times of adversity.”
The Owls shot 42 percent from the field and were in the lead in scoring by senior forward Keshia Primo with 18 points, but turnovers and defensive breakdowns hurt the team as the Golden Knights forced 26 turnovers and converted 34 points off those turnovers to go along with 19 second chance points. Sophomore forward Jackie Beathea said that the team needs to play stronger and maintain that throughout a game.
“We just have to make sure that we play tougher. Coach told us at halftime that they were out hustling us which just made us want it a little bit more,” said Beathea.
Beathea finished the contest with 13 points and 5 assists leading the way as the Owls came out at halftime and cut the lead down to four. But that was as close as they would get. Saint Rose was leading in scoring by guard Desiree Simmons who finished with 19 points on 6 of 12 from the field, three assists, and five steals. Brown said she wants to see her team have more confidence in their abilities going forward.
“With such a young team, I think that when we make mistakes defensively and we foul and they’re able to score with the clock stopped; we take a lot of pride in our defense,” said Brown. “And I feel sometimes when they work hard and they don’t get what they want out of it they doubt themselves and they have to learn how to play through all of that because basketball is a game of runs and things happen. We have to be better bouncing back from them.”
The Golden Knights – who lead by as many as 19 – shot 48 percent from the field including 58 percent from behind the arc. Southern was outscored 40-26 in the paint as Saint Rose had five different players in double figures. Brown said the biggest thing that she wants her team to take from this loss in to hold themselves accountable.
“We need to stop making excuses and saying why we can’t do what we are capable of doing,” said Brown.
Along with Beathea and Primo, guard Mariah Hankton and forward Taylor McLaughlin scored in double figures with 13 and 10 points scored, respectively. The Owls were unable to get hardly any second chance buckets during the contest as they only scored five points off second chance opportunities. With the victory against Saint Rose their record improves to 5-4 on the season and 2-3 in conference.
The Owls look to rebound from this loss on the road in their upcoming games against American International College and Post University.
