Hawks beat Leopards, lose close game to Wildcats

The women's basketball team epitomized teamwork in their Tuesday night game against the Lafayette College. Four women, Michelle Baker, ‘12, Katie Kuester, ‘12, Kelly Cavallo, ‘12, and Erin Shields, ‘14, finished with at least 10 points in their 65-57 win over the Leopards. Five minutes into the first half, the Hawks trailed by one but proceeded to open a 14-7 run, ignited by Ashley Robinson, the redshirt sophomore,  and free throws midway through the first half. To conclude the first half Kuester drained a fast break jumper to take the biggest lead of the half, 25-12.

Despite the Leopards 13-7 run at the end of the first half, the women walked into the locker room with their heads high and returned to the court reenergized. The Hawks took their biggest lead of the game, 40-28, five minutes into the second half, led by guard Baker who recorded 18 points (team high), two steals (co-team high), and played 33 minutes (team high). Though the Leopards fought back to a 6-point deficit, the Hawks kept them at bay and were perfect from the free throw line, 10-10, in the final minute of the game to chalk up their third straight win.

The Hawks victory over the Leopards wouldn't have been possible without help from Kuester, Cavallo, and Shields finishing with 11, 10 and 10 points, respectively. During Cavallo's 32 minutes of play she grabbed 10 boards to record her second double-double for the season. Additionally, upon hitting a jumper at the beginning of the second half, senior forward Samira van Grinsven reached the 1,000-point mark for her career.

With Lafayette in their rear view, the women laced up in preparation for the most anticipated game of the year against the Villanova Wildcats. The game took place Saturday afternoon and the women went the distance. Led by Shields, who finished with 14 points (team high) and six rebounds, the Hawks took a 16-6 lead midway through the first half, but the Wildcats would fight back and take the lead with five minutes remaining. The remainder of the first half was a shootout; both squads would exchange baskets, and the second half concluded with a score of 24-23 in the Hawks favor.

The Hawks stormed the court after halftime and tacked on six points right out of the gate. However, the Wildcats tightened up on defense and went on an 8-0 run to give them their second lead of the game. With seven minutes remaining in the second half, St. Joe's and Nova were at a stalemate, 38-38. After Nova added six more points, the redshirt sophomore Ashley Robinson and Shields each had a layup to bring the Hawks within 2.

After five minutes of exchanging baskets, the Hawks found themselves down by four with a minute remaining. The Wildcats brought the ball down court and began to waste away the clock. As the shot clock ran out, a missed layup was rebounded by Villanova; the shot clock reset and the only thing the women could do was foul. The Wildcats proceeded to make their two free throws to ice their victory.

Both teams played with raw desire to take hold of bragging rights, but in a Big 5 classic the Hawks fell short of a victory. Senior guard Michelle Baker recorded her first double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. The Hawks return to Hagan arena and host St. Francis Monday Dec. 19 at 7 p.m.