The lady Jays put on quite a showing in their basketball game Saturday afternoon against Goucher College in Thompson Gymnasium as they ran away with an 82 to 37 win. This was a big win for the Blue Jays and a great way to boost their confidence. A total of nine Etown players contributed to the win.
Sophomore Abby Beyer led the offense with 23 points. When asked what it felt like to put up numbers like that, Beyer was nothing but humble in discussing the win against Goucher. “It was a great team effort against Goucher,” she said. “We were able to really break down their defense by working the inside-out game, which opened up a lot of our outside shots.”
Junior guard Julia Craig also had a big day for the Blue Jays. Craig scored 11 points and posted eight rebounds. “This win meant a lot for us, especially going into it being 1-4 in the conference. Getting this win, I believe, gets us really fired up for our next games, wanting to play hard and keep winning to get a chance in the playoffs,” Craig said. This win was huge for Etown’s playoff hopes.
The Blue Jays found themselves down five to one in the first half, but silenced Goucher for six minutes. This led to first-year Mikayla Ruth tying the game, the teams at five points apiece. Junior Emma Hoesman then scored two three-pointers to make it 14-5.
This was when Craig stepped up big-time off the bench. Her solid play gave the Blue Jays an 18-point lead; their largest of the game at the time. Craig went in for the layup, got fouled, but still made the bucket. She then nailed her free throw for the three-point play. Senior Emily Martin didn’t score her first points until the end of the second quarter , but she made it count. The defensive focus of Goucher was put on Martin, but this opened up opportunities on the corners for Beyer and Ruth.
Goucher came within 12 points at the end of the first half but Beyer didn’t let up. When Goucher turned the ball over, Beyer got the rebound and scored again. For Beyer, the spark was ignited in the first half and heated up in the second. She scored 12 of her 14 second half points in the third quarter alone. Overall, Beyer had her first 20-plus point game of the season and shot 10-for-19. Hoesman and first-year Lydia Lawson did a great job defending Brianna Bull, one of the Landmark’s top scorers.
“Overall, this was a great win for us,” Beyer said. “Every team in this conference has been very competitive and has proved that no one can be taken lightly. So I feel like this was an essential game for us to take control of, and we were able to do that from start to finish. I think this will give us good momentum into the Juniata game Wednesday night.”
The Blue Jays traveled to Juniata College last night for another Landmark Conference matchup.
The Blue Jays jumped on top of Juniata early and often on Wednesday night, leading 24 to seven after one quarter. Etown did not take their foot off the pedal in the second quarter, extending their lead to 45-19 at the break.
In the second half, the Eagles managed to outscore the Blue Jays in each quarter but could never close to gap entirely. Etown ran away with the Landmark victory, 74-63 to improve to three and four in the conference.
Ruth led all scorers with 21 points, while Martin scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for another double-double.
Beyer continued her hot shooting by dropping 16 points. Lawson chipped in with 14 points as well to help the starters combine for 66 of the Blue Jays 74 points.
Etown will hit the road again on Saturday to face the University of Scranton for a second time this season. The Blue Jays dropped a heartbreaker at home earlier in 2017 against the third-ranked Royals. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
