The Elizabethtown College women’s basketball team came out with a win on Wednesday, Jan. 30 against the Arcadia University Knights as the Jays remained undefeated for the fifth straight season when they won both match-ups against the Knights with a final score of 69-55.
According to Head Coach Sherri Gorman, “Our starting five have been playing very well together and obviously it has been a team effort. Everyone is doing their vital part to be successful.”
Sophomore Taylor Alwine and junior Taylor Kreider both had a very successful night when Kreider recorded her thirteenth double-double of the season, and Alwine achieved a new career high 20 points and scored ten of the team’s first 16 points, leading the team to a large advantage over Arcadia. By the first half, Etown was leading 35-25.
Senior Nadine Yunginger and junior Kendra Beittel got Etown off to a quick start as they began the second half on a 13-2 run. After Alwine used two late free throws to get her to her career high score of 20, Kreider finished the game with 12 points and senior Katy Fogel made perfect marks from beyond the arc and at the foul line, earning 9 points for the Jays.
When asked what could be improved in future games, Beittel said, “I think we have made some great improvements this season. However, I think we can make our defense even better in order to create more difficulty for other teams.” Gorman agreed, “I think the other thing we really want to focus on is our defense. We want to really try and make it miserable for other teams to be able to run their offense and try and outwork every team that we play.”
On Saturday Feb. 3, the Blue Jays traveled to Alvernia University and lost a close match with the Crusaders 60- 58. In the first half Fogel, with assistance from Yunginger, broke a 9-9 deadlock with a 3 pointer with 11:30 remaining in the first half. With just 8 minutes remaining in the half, Kreider’s layup gave the Blue Jays a 20-9 lead.
By the second half, neither the Blue Jays nor the Crusaders led by more than 6 points. Kreider pulled off another layup, giving Etown their final lead of the game with just 1:14 to go. Beittel finished the game with 16 points, making her the high scorer, and Kredier pulled out yet another double-double.
When asked what she believed the team needs to do to secure a spot in the postseason tournament, first-year Alyssa Aichele said, “I believe that we just need an all-around focus because focusing on one thing in particular would weaken our skills in other departments.” Similarly, Beittel continued, “I think we need to focus on the idea of team. Basketball is a team sport and I think right now we are more of a team than we ever have been before. So if we keep the idea of a whole being stronger than the individual, I think we will be able to do great things.”
Gorman believes that her team has come a long way since the winter break: “Where we were before Christmas and where we are today is a lot different. Going into the Christmas break we were at that point where we were trying to figure out any way that we could come up with a win, but since Christmas we have really concentrated defensively, and stopping other teams defensively, and really just taking it one game at a time.” When asked about the post- season tournament she replied, “To me, it’s about defense. We have got to be able to show other teams down and not let them do what they want to do.”