The Blue Jays lost a tough one on Saturday as they fell to Moravian College. The Greyhounds got their win in the last seconds of the game with a pair of clutch free throws. This was the Blue Jays’ first loss of the season.
The big contributors to the Blue Jays in this game were first-year Lydia Lawson, junior Emma Hoesman, senior Nikki Thompson and senior Emily Martin. The ladies went into the second half of the game down 17-14 after Martin connected for two free throws. Things started rolling in the second half with Martin again contributing, giving the team the lead with a key layup, which occurred with 11 seconds to go in the third, as Lawson posted a nice pass to Martin.
This time it was Lawson coming up big for the Jays with a timely steal in the early portions of the fourth quarter. This lead to Mikayla Ruth draining a jumper on a fast break, giving the ladies an eight-point lead. The Greyhounds responded by again snatching the lead with only four and a half minutes to go.
In the final portions of the game many changes were made as well as several ties. With barely a minute left on the clock Lawson made two free throws to give the game back to the Jays 72-70.
But the Greyhounds maintained possession of the ball after this and tied things up at 72-72. Etown had a chance to win the game in the final seconds, but a three-point attempt by Lawson rolled off the rim to allow the hosts to escape with a two-point victory.
“Our strategy was to execute our plays on offense and push the ball in transition. Defensively, our plan was to limit the team’s leading scorer,” Hoesman said, reflecting on the team’s strategy.
This was a tough loss for the Jays, but it was only their first one of the season with many more games to go. Hoesman was nothing but optimistic. “The loss was tough, but we will use it as a learning experience and move forward. Moravian is a great team, and we are looking forward to competing against them again.”
The Blue Jays hosted McDaniel College on Tuesday night in a non-conference matchup. Etown struggled to make shots from the field, shooting their second lowest percentage of the season, but played great defense against the Green Terror.
Etown held McDaniel to just 30 percent shooting from the floor and the Green Terror did not make a three-pointer in 40 minutes of action. The Blue Jays out-rebounded McDaniel, 45-25 en route to a 52-32 home victory.
Martin registered her fifth double-double of the season, scoring a game-high 22 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Lawson added a career-high 10 points to help pace the Blue Jays. She scored all 10 of her points in the first half to push Etown ahead 28-24 at halftime.
In the second half, the Blue Jays defense began to stifle the Green Terror. McDaniel scored just two points in the third quarter and six in the fourth.
Etown outscored the visitors 24 to eight in the second half of play. Thompson contributed 10 points in the victory.
The Blue Jays will travel to Eastern University on Saturday, Dec. 10 for a non-conference game against the Eagles.
Following Saturday’s contest, the Blue Jays will host Stevenson University on Sunday, Dec. 11.
