The Observer, February 2, 2007
Volume XXXIX, Issue 15
Lady Spartans look to recover in Gym's friendly confines
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The past two weeks have been a rough stretch for the Lady Spartans. After a weekend in New York City and Boston, the team had to travel to Rochester, N.Y. for a road contest against the 10th-ranked team in the country. On the way, their bus was delayed for two hours in the snow, and there was a possibility that they would not get to the game on time. The weekend continued in that manner as the team remained winless in the conference after losing Friday to the University of Rochester 62-41, and then falling short of Carnegie Mellon University, 70-58, on Sunday.
"We've been on the road for eight of the past eleven days," said coach Jacki Windon. "I think the girls are just glad to be back home and in our routine."
Hopefully the home-court advantage and comfortable schedule will help the Spartans this weekend as rematches pit them against the Tartans of Carnegie Mellon on Friday and the Rochester Yellow Jackets on Sunday. The "Throwback Weekend" games will be held in the classic Adelbert Gymnasium, and hopefully the team can learn some lessons about basketball execution from the hallowed hall.
Last weekend, the Spartans played mistake-prone basketball, and hurt their chances during both games. Against the nationally-ranked Yellow Jackets, Case was held scoreless for nearly eight minutes in the first half as Rochester opened up a 20-point lead that carried throughout the rest of the game. Highlighting the play for the women's team was junior guard Mary Herendeen who scored 16 points (40 percent of the team's total). Herendeen averages six points a game, so that outburst was a single bright spot on a day when Case was out-rebounded by a two-to-one (48 to 24) ratio.
Sunday's contest against the Pittsburgh-based Tartans proved to be a better match, as both teams came into the game winless in the University Athletic Association. Sparked by freshman Ashleigh Tondo, the Spartans rallied at the end of the first half to cut the CMU lead to three going into the locker room. Tondo finished the half with 10 points, scoring seven of them in the last four minutes of the first period.
Tondo helped the Spartans take the lead a quarter of the way through the second half, but then the scrappy Tartans clamped down and pulled out a victory. This game was characterized by excessively sloppy ball control, as Case recorded 29 turnovers and missed 15 of their 25 free throw attempts.
"At both games we had open looks, but we just didn't knock down the shots," said Windon. "Against Carnegie Mellon, we played soft with the basketball and forced turnovers when we had a genuine opportunity to win."
This week, the team has focused and prepared to come out of the big weekend victorious. Having recently faced their opponents hopefully will work to the advantage of the Spartans. With the home crowd behind them and in the comfort of their daily campus schedules, the women's team has a chance to recover and defeat their opponents.
