Women’s basketball attempts to finish their season strong

by Cooper Creagan '13
SPORTS WRITER

Last Saturday, the Continentals stepped onto the court for a rematch against Clarkson with a score to settle. Clarkson had beaten Hamilton 48-42 at the Field House in January, and it was time for the women to return the favor. Indeed they did, gaining an early 4-3 lead and never losing it, finishing the game 52-44.

The victory against Clarkson, however, came only after a series of trying games for the Continentals. Earlier this month, the women travelled to Saratoga Springs for a rematch against Skidmore, to whom they had suffered a close two-point loss a few weeks prior. Their luck was no better this time around. “As for Skidmore, we started off a little slow,” remarked Coach Melissia Patterson. Skidmore led by 11 points at halftime. Though Coach Patterson remarked that the team “finally rallied in the second half,” it was ultimately not enough to take the victory, and Hamilton lost 56-50.

The next day the women travelled to Union, to whom they had lost a nail-biting double overtime game in January. Unfortunately, the game was not quite so close this time. “I believe Union looked much stronger the second time around and they were clicking on all cylinders,” said Coach Patterson.

Like Skidmore, the women found themselves down by a considerable margin in the first half. Unable to overcome the deficit, the Continentals lost 64-46. The story was the same against William Smith a few days later, to whom the women lost 67-53.

Things didn’t get any easier for the Continentals, as sickness and injury plagued the team throughout last weekend’s games against St. Lawrence and Clarkson. Blue Sanders ’13 and Dani Feign ’14 both suffered injuries, making the already small eight-woman team even smaller. “It was a challenge to even compete,” said Coach Patterson.
Consequently, the Continentals struggled against St. Lawrence on Friday. “We just didn’t come out well at the beginning of the game, which really hurt us later,” remarked forward Claire Hunsinger ’13.

Indeed, the women were down 20 points at halftime. However, the Continentals weren’t about to lie down after a bad start. “We actually outscored them in the second half,” remarked Hunsinger. Because the team eventually managed to rally so well, Hunsinger felt that “we definitely could have beat them.” As it stands, however, the Continentals lost 55-41.
Though many teams would let this string of losses affect their mentality, the Continentals demonstrated an uncanny ability to bounce back last Saturday with a victory over Clarkson. Hunsinger reported that they “out-rebounded and outworked [Clarkson] on the boards all night, which is really important.” She also credited a stellar performance by forward Lisa Olszewski ’11, “Lisa had a monster game for us too, which is great because an inside game is not only effective on its own, but also opens up your outside game, as the defense is forced to collapse to guard the post.” Indeed, Olszewski scored 16 of Hamilton’s 52 points.

Now, the women hope to carry this momentum into their games against Vassar and RPI this weekend.“We definitely want our season to end on a high note, and we do owe RPI and Vassar for the last time we played them,” said Hunsinger.

Coach Patterson is also expecting a strong finish to the season. “We look forward to staying healthy and competing at full strength,” she said. If the Continentals can play against RPI and Vassar how they played against Clarkson, they may well have the strong finish they are looking for.