The Observer, January 26, 2007
Volume XXXIX, Issue 14
Lady Spartans' tough trip to the East Coast ends in losses
click to enlarge
Any UAA women's basketball team that makes its annual trip to the East Coast to play Brandeis and New York knows that it is in for a difficult weekend of basketball.
Such was the case for the Case Lady Spartans last weekend, as they were unable to get a victory in either game, dropping the first to Brandeis on Friday night, 85-58, and the second to the Lady Violets, 88-74, in New York City on Sunday.
The loss to Brandeis represented the second largest margin of defeat for Case this year and was a stark contrast to the team's three previous UAA games, which were all decided by 10 points or less. The team did play a much better game against New York, committing only 13 turnovers (compared to 18 against Brandeis) while reducing the disparity in rebounds to seven (Brandeis outrebounded Case, 54-20).
"We came ready to play against NYU," head coach Jacki Windon said. "That's just a product of conditioning yourself and getting ready to go."
The game against New York followed a similar pattern to the Brandeis game in the first half. After keeping the score close through the first 10 minutes of play, the Lady Violets made a run, increasing their lead to 28-17 before Windon called for a timeout.
The Lady Spartans kept within striking distance until a scoring lull over the last four minutes of the half enabled New York to build a 44-28 lead entering the locker room at halftime.
The Lady Violets increased their lead midway through the second half, leading 68-47 at one point, before Case caught fire. Point guard LaVonne Sherald made three from behind the arc, and both senior Dana Dempsey and freshman Kendall McKay scored eight points as Case scored 46 during the half. Making the half all the more impressive was the fact that Case had three freshmen battling a senior-laden lineup of NYU during much of the time.
McKay believed that the game against New York seemed totally different compared to the previous one against Brandeis.
"Against NYU, we played with a lot more effort," she said. "Going into the locker room at halftime, it seemed like a much closer game. We came out ready to play."
Windon believes being ready to play is the key to staying in games in the tough UAA. Otherwise, a team will get blown out quickly, evidenced by the ladies' defeat against Brandeis.
"Sometimes we get reminded of the level of play we go up against every night," she said. "You have to come out with your gloves up."
The women are on the road again this weekend, playing Rochester tonight at 6 p.m. and Carnegie Mellon on Sunday at 2 p.m. The Lady Spartans again will be looking for their first conference win of the season.
That win will be difficult to earn against Rochester, as the Yellow Jackets have an overall record of 14-2 and are ranked 10th nationally in the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll. However, playing Carnegie Mellon, another UAA team without a win in the conference, represents a good opportunity for the women to earn that first victory.
Windon believes her team has a chance to win not only both of these games, but any game during the season.
"I'm an optimist and believe that we have a fighting chance, but we're going to have to fight night in and night out," Windon said.
