By Dillon Flanigan
Sports Editor
Guard Hope Fox, a junior, drives to the rim.
On Feb. 11 the Women’s Basketball team snapped their two-game losing streak as they defeated American International College Yellow Jackets, AIC, 78-60.
After the last two games went down to the wire, and not in the Owls favor, they took an early lead and played comfortably throughout the game.
“We focused on getting back to those things that you know got us 16 wins,” Head Coach Kate Lynch said. “I think we did a really good job in transition. We took our time; we were patient, and we shared the basketball. I’m really proud of the effort.”
In transition, as Lynch described, they found openings spreading the ball around early.
The first eight points were scored by four of the five starters, capped by forward Katie Williamson, a graduate’s, layup.
Williamson would make three of four free throw attempts and hit a jumper as the first half expired. Her threat in the paint was tamed by the Yellow Jackets as every pass was either broken up, shots were blocked or her shots were missed.
“Offensively she wasn’t absent, obviously, she’s one of our biggest scores currently,” Lynch said. “The good thing about this team is that were deep, and at any point anybody can step up.”
Though Williamson may not have had a stellar night offensively, Lynch explains that her presence helped the team in other aspects. She had 12 rebounds and two blocks on the night, the latter places her second all-time in university history in blocks with 118.
“I wouldn’t be able to be where I am if it wasn’t for my team to encourage me and pick me up every single day so I’m really grateful,” Williamson said.
With Williamson’s one-sided night, the team turned to forward Rheyna Steinauer, a junior, and to the other three starters, where combined scored 64 of the total 78 points. With this 18-point win was much comfier cushion than a month ago as the Owls narrowly won 88-85 in overtime over AIC.
“When we played them last time, we knew it shouldn’t have gone to overtime,” Steinauer said, who had five rebounds and 15 points on Feb. 11.
“We knew that wasn’t going to happen again, and we knew we could just shut them out, and that’s exactly what we did. We had a game plan, and we stuck to it, and that’s exactly what happened,” Steinauer said.
With five minutes left in the game, James Moore Field House was in silence as the referees stopped play and signaled for assistance to guard Hope Fox, a junior, who was down. After a few minutes, she was helped up by the Yellow Jackets team athletic trainer, university athletic trainer Deanna Laubach and team manager Nicole Moran.
Lynch did not see what led up to the officials calling a timeout, but Fox, who was in high spirits post-game, did not return in the final minutes as Laubach evaluated her for a potential head injury.
This win and the margin of victory aligns with previous games this season as they have beaten several teams by double digits.
