The Observer, November 30, 2007
Volume XL, Issue 12
Women's hoops splits Thomas More Shootout
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The Lady Spartans basketball team took on DePauw University Saturday and Centre College Sunday in the Thomas More Shootout. Both schools are highly ranked this year and proved to be challenging opponents; DePauw came into the game undefeated and they are the defending national champions in NCAA Div. III women's basketball.
The Spartans were unable to put a halt to their string of victories, coming up just slightly short of the victory with a final score of 63-70. Yet despite the previous day's defeat, the Lady Spartans bounced back on Sunday to take on Centre College. They also entered the tournament undefeated, but lost the previous night to Thomas More. Case played hard and pushed through some fatigue to beat Centre 67-53.
Despite their loss to the NCAA national champions, the women's basketball team played very well overall. The team rebounded very well throughout both games and shot effectively from the floor, but still need to improve on the defensive end of their game. "It is going to be important that we play great defense and take better care of the basketball night in and night out," said coach Jennifer Reimer. Reimer is in her first year as the Spartan's coach. She comes to Case from Allegheny University, where she averaged 17 wins per season and an overall record with the school of 120-68 (.638).
Several of the women turned in quality performances. Notable was senior Ashley Horton, who was named to the All-Tournament team as a result of her consistently strong performance throughout the match. Horton averaged 9.0 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per game for the women's basketball team last season, and simultaneously led the UAA in offensive rebounds. She had seven double-doubles in her previous season, including a season-high 14 rebounds on Feb. 2 against Carnegie Mellon University. Hopes remain high for her as she goes into this season.
"Our team continues to work hard and get better every day; it was a good weekend for us," coach Reimer said when asked about how she felt the team's performance has been so far this season and in the match this weekend. The next major tournament the team will play in will be in Orange County, Calif. at the Surf City Classic from Dec. 27 to Jan. 2.
