Jaylen Carr – Sports Editor
Matt Cain – Contributor
Inside James Moore Field House, hear Owls’ fans chant “defense, defense, defense,” see the players dive on the floor giving their all, and can smell the sweat from resilient players from Pace University and the Owls.
The Owls came into the Nov. 30 matchup against Pace University with a 4-1 record and were poised to win their first game against a Northeast 10, NE10, rival.
It was a close game throughout the first half with both teams trading fastbreak points and points in the paint. The Owls held a 19-17 lead going into halftime with forward Ashley Evans, a junior, leading the Owls in scoring.
Despite the game being close in the first half, the Owls opened the second half with a strong start thanks to the contributions from forward Katie Williamson, a junior, and guard Zoe Amalbert who both scored in double figures.
“I think just working hard as a team together and my players saw me open and just gave me the ball,” Williamson said.
Williamson had a team-high of nine rebounds in the game and shot 64 percent from the field. The Owls dominated the paint throughout the game, scoring 28 out of their total 60 points inside the paint.
Pace University was not able to keep the game close to start the second half. The Owls’ defense held Pace to seven points in the third quarter. Pace shot 18 percent from the field in the third quarter thanks to the stifling defense from the Owls.
Williamson said the team started off slow in the first half, but once they regrouped during halftime they were able to come out strong in the second half.
“We came out slow in the first couple of minutes,” Head Coach Kate Lynch said. “We have to execute a little bit better in order to avoid that type of thing.”
Coach Lynch said the team was able to come out in the second half played together as a team.
Amalbert played a big part in the win. She scored 10 points and knocked down two threes in the game. Amalbert led the offense to a dominating third quarter.
“We started out a little slow but came back; that shows that we can be resilient in the second half, and we were all just working together as a team which is good thing,” Amalbert said.
The team knew that they had come out better in the second half with more energy and better execution, Amalbert said.
“We made those fixes at halftime and I’m very proud of how they came out in the second half,” Coach Lynch said.
The Owls also shot the three ball well throughout the game. They made 50 percent of their threes to start the second half and shot 38 percent overall.
The rebounding margin was in favor of the Owls all night. They dominated the glass throughout the game having nine second chance points and thirty-seven total rebounds.
Lynch said rebounding has been a major point of emphasis throughout practice and games.
“It has been something we have been trying to focus on,” Coach Lynch said. “We are big and athletic; we should control the boards.”
The Owls had a dominant performance on the glass, and a good game on the inside. This win improves the Owls overall record to 5-1 and 1-0 against conference rivals. Coach Lynch and the players said there is always room for improvement even after a 27-point win.
Amalbert said they can keep getting better despite the victory and get better at coming out stronger to start the game.
“We have to come out like we did in the second half in the first half,” Coach Lynch said. “We really have to focus on putting a full forty-eight together.”
