The Elizabethtown College Blue Jays women’s basketball team went on a road trip on Saturday, facing the Susquehanna University River Hawks in a Landmark Conference matchup. The last matchup between the two, the Blue Jays were able to pick up a narrow victory, edging out the River Hawks 59-56.
Etown battled hard in the previous matchup, coming back from an eight-point halftime deficit and came up with a massive defensive stop to hold the River Hawks from a game-tying three as the time expired. Etown had been coming off a loss on the road to Catholic University while Susquehanna had taken back to back wins against Drew University and Goucher College.
The River Hawks started the game hot, leading the Blue Jays early with an 8-0 lead in the first minute and a half. Etown was held from their first points until halfway through the first quarter as senior forward Allyia Kennedy opened the scoring with a midrange jumper. Despite being down as much as 13 points early, the Blue Jays clawed back the deficit, as senior guard Ella Gordon knocked down a three to electrify the offense. Sophomore forward Peyton Houlihan buried a midrange jumper, making an immediate impact off the bench and senior guard Makenna Mummert drained a three-pointer from distance to bring the Susquehanna lead to six.
Susquehanna’s offense began to catch fire in the second quarter, expanding their six point lead to as much as 16 off an 11-1 run by the River Hawks. Etown replicated what they had done earlier in the first quarter, reducing the deficit off a 7-0 run led by a combined effort by the entire team. Mummert added another layup and sophomore forward Kiley Wilhelm contributed a layup before the halftime buzzer sounded, reducing the Susquehanna lead to 13 as the River Hawks led 38-25.
The Blue Jays and the River Hawks battled back and forth through the third quarter, with the lead expanding to as much as 17 for Susquehanna. Etown was able to slowly but surely reduce the lead to 10 as Gordon and Mummert sunk threes for the Blue Jays. Etown did a good job on the defensive end holding the River Hawks to 18 points in the quarter while nearly doubling their offensive effort in the first half with 17 points.
Etown began their final push to climb back, with Mummert adding four points off of layups and Wilhelm adding another layup to her scoring total. Susquehanna and Etown traded threes back and forth as Gordon matched the three-pointer that the River Hawks had hit a possession prior. Despite the strong effort by Etown, the lead was too much to reduce as Susquehanna had defeated the Blue Jays 75-62.
Mummert led the Blue Jays in scoring with 27 points combined with three assists and three rebounds. Gordon had a strong performance from three, draining four of her six attempts on the night, putting together a season high for the senior guard. Kennedy in 21 minutes put together seven points and eight rebounds including four offensive rebounds for the Blue Jays. Wilhelm led the Etown efforts off the bench, contributing six points and nine rebounds in the loss.
The Blue Jays will take on Wilkes Feb. 14 for their next home matchup where the seniors will be recognized for their four years of hard work and dedication to the program on Senior Day.
