With another weekend, came another pair of tough losses for the Spartans in addition to the news of junior captain Berit Eppard suffering an ACL tear that ends her season.

Although the team dropped another two games, coach Jennifer Reimer said, “Overall, we felt it was a good weekend, but disappointing to work as hard as we did and come away with two loses. We played well and gave ourselves the opportunity to win both Friday and Sunday.”

This weekend’s losses came at the hands of Brandeis University and New York University during Case Western Reserve University’s Throwback Weekend where the ladies donned their yellow Flora Stone Mather College jerseys.

The Friday of Throwback Weekend brought the Brandeis Judges to campus and saw the Spartans drop a close game 63-58. Junior forward Erin Reynolds led the way for CWRU with 17 points through 12 attempts with two rebounds and an assist.

The Spartans led early in a game that had two aggressive defenses. Despite not shooting well in the first half, the ladies played aggressively on both ends and led 9-2 just five minutes into the half. Brandeis then responded with a 9-0 run that put them ahead, but thanks to the Spartan’s continued stinginess on the defensive end and timely free throws, they led at the end of the half 24-21.

The second half of Friday’s game saw the offenses on both sides open up more, but it was the Judges who came out hot as they started the half on an 11-7 run. Leads and scores continued to be exchanged and the Spartans lead as late as 4:32 in the half, but in the end could not pull off the win.

The loss boiled down to what Reimer describes as “two consecutive defensive breakdowns, combined with a turnover that allowed Brandeis to open up the lead at the end of the game to win.”

Unfortunately, Sunday’s game brought the same fortune as Friday’s as the Spartans faced the 20th ranked New York University Violets. The loss proved to be an even bigger heartbreak than Friday’s affair as the Spartans lost to the Violets 84-82 in overtime.

What cannot be forgotten in the loss, though, is the effort put forth by senior guard Julie Mooney who scored 20 points and pulled down eight rebounds and dished four assists. Far more impressive than her stats was how her play affected her teammates as well as Reimer said it “opened up opportunities for our inside game and created openings for our perimeter shooters.”

In the first half, the Spartans again started off well leading 15-10 at the 13:27 mark with scores from Erin Reynolds, Brooke Orcutt, Jessica McCoy and Laura Mummey. The Violets then fought back with a 10-2 run to take the lead, but the Spartan’s were able to claw their way back with 19-8 end to the half to go up 36-32.

The second half was the “Julie Mooney Show”. Mooney scored 18 of her 20 points in the half and kept the Spartans in the game to the very end with numerous timely jump shots and cuts to the basket. Reimer commented on Mooney’s performance saying, “Everyone on our team has the chance to see what Julie can do each day in practice, so it’s fun when our fans get to see her at her best.” Unfortunately, the Spartans could not close the game and lost in overtime.

The Spartans now currently sit at 7-11 and 1-6 in the UAA. They will get another crack at both NYU and Brandeis on a trip to the East Coast that they hope will bring them more luck.