The Elizabethtown College Women’s Basketball team took on the Goucher Gophers at home on Saturday for a Landmark Conference matchup. Etown had been coming off a big win the previous game against Moravian and hoped to continue their momentum heading into their next conference contest. The Blue Jays were able to take down Goucher in their last matchup on the road, defeating the Gophers by 34 in early December.
Etown got the show on the road early, jumping out to a 9-0 run in the first minute and a half as senior forward Allyia Kennedy showed how strong the Blue Jay transition game was by collecting seven straight fast break points. Etown continued to extend their lead, with senior guard Ella Gordon knocking down a three-pointer along with senior guard Makenna Mummert picking up her first points on a mid-range jumper. The Blue Jays continued pouring on the points, with Mummert cashing in on back-to-back threes and sophomore guard Alex Gonzalez hitting a three of her own. Etown’s sophomore forward Kiley Wilhelm added a layup before the end of a 31-point quarter by the Blue Jays, capping off Etown’s strong offensive play in the first.
Etown held a 21-point lead heading into the second quarter and they continued to apply pressure to the Gophers. Senior forward Ellie Fasick collected five points in the quarter to extend the lead to 28 in the middle of the second quarter. Sophomore guard Cadence Anderson knocked down a three-pointer and Wilhelm picked up another layup to extend the lead to as much as 32 as the Blue Jays offense continued to pick up steam in the quarter. Etown fell under a dry spell with shooting to end the second quarter as the Gophers were able to recover some of the deficit that they had accumulated, heading into the halftime break down 26 points.
The starters came back onto the floor for the Blue Jays, losing no momentum from the halftime break. Mummert added four points and Fasick contributed a layup and a free throw as the lead was extended to 30 points in the first five minutes of the quarter. Etown held the lead around this mark with Fasick and sophomore forward Peyton Houlihan both collecting four points in the final four minutes of the quarter. Gonzalez was able to knock down a half-court shot to seal the end of the quarter, however, it was a second or two after the time had expired, negating the shot from actually counting. Despite it being after the buzzer, it electrified the crowd as the Blue Jays headed into the final quarter of action with a 37-point lead.
Etown started the fourth with an 8-0 run, led by Houlihan with six points, all coming from within the paint. The scoring in the quarter slowed down significantly compared to the first three quarters, as the lead had extended to 48 as Gonzalez knocked down another three with two minutes to go. The Blue Jays held on defensively, allowing zero points from open play in the quarter with all five points stemming from the free-throw line. Sophomore guard Ava Chapman dribbled out the clock as the Blue Jays were able to take a 46-point, 89-43 victory.
The Blue Jays had five players in double-digit scoring with Mummert leading the team with 16 points and five assists. In 17 minutes, Fasick finished the contest with 14 points, five rebounds and two blocks. Kennedy contributed 11 points, five rebounds and two steals in the same minutes as Fasick while shooting 5-5 from the free throw line. Gonzalez and Houlihan both added 12 points each, with Gonzalez going perfect from three and Houlihan shooting 75% from the floor. Anderson had herself a strong evening, contributing nine points, eight rebounds and five assists en route to the victory.
The Blue Jays will take on #2 ranked Scranton University on the road on Saturday, Feb. 7 and will return home from their three-game road trip on Feb. 14 for senior day against Wilkes University.
