Matt Gad – Sports Writer
Women’s Basketball improved to 15-7 this past Saturday with a back-
and-forth 64-63 overtime win over Saint Michael’s College. For the Owls, it was also their ninth
win in conference play for the season.
“I think both teams had trouble scoring in the first half and then the lids seemed to come off the
baskets [in the second half,” head coach Kate Lynch said. “It just felt like every time we went up
by five or six points they made a basket, and that’s what good basketball teams do. I’m just
proud that we were able to get it done.”
The Owls held a 10-6 lead after the first quarter and were then outscored 12-8 before halftime.
Sophomore Kiana Steinauer chipped in with 14 points and Abby Hurlbert, who scored the game-
tying three to force overtime and then the game-winning layup, had 20.
“We were down the whole game and then we came back and then when I hit that shot their was
only one second left and we were hoping that was it but then they hit that shot and we had to do
five more minutes,” Hurlbert said.
And that shot she was referring to was the one the Purple Knights had to tie the game up at 55 as
the fourth quarter buzzer sounded. And then in overtime the Owls out-fought Saint Michael’s, 9-
8.
“We were going back-and- forth in overtime too and then I was able to get the post-up at the
end,” Hurlbert said. “We only have a few more games left so it’s really important to get in a
good place for the tournament. We’re starting to come together; there’s some things we have to
fix but I think we’re in a good position.”
The Owls are currently 9-5 in Northeast-10 play, best for a .643 winning percentage. They have
a record of 6-3 at home and and 9-3 on the road and are 0-1 on the neutral floor. Last season, the
team went 12-17 and were eliminated off the backs of Adelphi in the second round of the
Division II NCAA Tournament by a final score of 69-52.
“Abby’s just been fantastic. We got it done, we executed at the end and that’s what we need to
do,” Lynch said. “There’s a lot of different things we can change to get better at but in the end
we executed really well.”
The Purple Knights dropped to 7-12 overall and 4-10 in-conference with the loss. They had
efforts from Samantha Delaney with 12 points, Leah Spencer and Nicole Anderson with 11 and
Brianna Purcell with 10 of her own.
Other contributors for the Owls included 11 points from Imani Wheeler and seven from both
Miranda Crenshaw and Chandler Williams. As a team they shot 25-57 and were 7-20 from three-
point range.
The team’s next contest comes tonight against the University of New Haven at 5:30 p.m. On the
season, the Chargers are 8-11 and 4-10 in NE10 play. They will seek their fourth road win of the
season when they come into Moore Field House.
Said Lynch: “Every game in the NE10 is difficult regardless of people’s record. We always have
that goal [to be successful] and it’s been a fun ride. There’s always things we can get better at
and we work on that in practice and hope it carries over to the games and one of those things
we’ve been proud of. Every team always wants to win a championship so we’ve always had high
hopes for this team and we’re just happy they’re being confident in themselves.”
Photo Courtesy: southernctowls.com
