Jaylen Carr – Sports Editor
The Owls were able to sneak past the College of Saint Rose for their third straight win despite having 24 turnovers and being outscored in the fourth quarter.
Head coach Kate Lynch said, “we just did not take care of the basketball; obviously, it’s a conference win, so we’re happy.”
The Owls came into the Jan. 30 matchup against Saint Rose winners in two of their last four games. After having a rough early January, the Owls needed to win to close out their final games.
The 13-7 and sixth-seeded, Owls are trailing conference rival Bentley University in the Northeast Conference standings, who are 12-8 so for this season.
During the game against Saint Rose, the Owls were outrebounded by three in rebounding but allowed Saint Rose to grab 16 offensive rebounds that turned into 12 points.
“Saint Rose is a great rebounding team, and we knew that,” said Lynch. “In the first half, we gave up 11 alone.”
The team had to focus on the at hand, which was to rebound against one of the best rebounding teams in the conference, said Lynch.
Guard Isabella Santoro said the team did not play up to the competition of Saint Rose because the last two teams, Bentley University and Southern New Hampshire, were games against the top teams in the conference.
“We played down to their level,” said Santoro. “I think it is a good eye-opener to see that we are a better team, and we just have to come together to pull out the win.”
Santoro would finish the game with six points and shooting 50% from the field. She would also help contribute to the win by leading the team in rebounding with nine and forcing two steals.
Guards Zoe Amalbert and Delaney Connors would help the Owls in scoring. Amalbert would lead the team in five assists and contribute by helping the Owls score 51 points by scoring 11 points. Connors would score 10 points while shooting 5 for 11 from the field.
Even though the Owls had a double-digit lead going into halftime, coach Lynch said, “handle the pressured, control the tempo, and don’t give offensive rebounds,” was her message to the team coming out of halftime.
Saint Rose would mount a comeback late third quarter, and entering the fourth, as the Owls would constantly turn the ball over and shoot 35% from the field in the final quarter.
Saint Rose outscored the Owls outscored in the fourth quarter 16-11 to close the game late in the quarter.
The Owls’ leading scorer, forward Katie Williamson, would finish the game with 15 points and five rebounds. Williamson would help the Owls dominate the paint. The Owls would score 28 of their 51 points in the interior.
Williamson said, “we need to keep our heads in these situations.”
Coach Lynch said the team could improve upon this game despite the win because of the number of turnovers and lack of rebounding.
Saint Rose scored 18 points off the Owls’ turnovers, which helped them cut the lead into single digits. They were able to get scoring from their bench, outscoring the Owls’ bench 33-7.
When the game was close in the last three minutes of the game, the Owls were able to close the game by hitting clutch free throws and limiting mistakes.
“I think we held our composure,” said Lynch. “At the end of the day, we were able to execute at the end, score when we had to score, and got the ball past half court, so with that, it’s a check in the W column. We are just going to keep growing each and every game. ”
