Acorn

Issue date: 2/8/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Joanna Whitney Guard Emma Grossman ('11) avoids the Catholic defenders as she drives to the basket.

The past week was a mixed bag for the Drew University women's basketball team. The women have played three games in the past week, and have won two of them. On Feb. 6, William Paterson University ended the Rangers' first and only winning streak of the year. The streak could not have come at a better time though, as the Rangers find themselves right back in the thick of things in the Landmark Conference.

On Feb. 1, the Rangers hosted Goucher College and won big. The game was knotted at 30 at halftime, in what was a very competitive game. In the second half the Rangers pulled ahead, and eventually ended up winning by 12 points. The Rangers had a huge game from forward Jessica Del Vecchio ('10) in particular, who contributed twenty-four points to the Rangers 12-point victory. Del Vecchio, whose point total was a career high, went an astonishing 6-9 from downtown.

The Rangers faced the difficult task of playing their second game within 24 hours. This game was a thriller in every sense of the word. The Rangers survived a second half surge from Catholic University to escape with a one point victory, 60-59. The defense came up big down the stretch, and prevented Catholic from scoring late. Guard Allison Hartnett ('08) and forward Laura Methvin ('09) both had fantastic games, as each contributed double digit point totals. It is difficult to overemphasize the importance of winning back to back games against conference opponents.

"Wins this weekend were huge for us. It put us right where we need to be to get into fourth place in the conference and make the conference playoffs," Del Vecchio said.

Unfortunately, the Rangers were unable to extend their winning streak to three against out-of-conference opponents William Paterson on last Wednesday.

The Rangers suffered from poor shooting and ended up on the wrong end of the turnover battle, which has been a common theme in the women's losses this year. The Pioneers leapt out to an early lead after four minutes of play with 9-2.

It wasn't until halfway through the first half that the Rangers rallied and made a quick comeback, as the combined efforts of forwards Lauren Koed ('10), Ann Mularz ('09) and forward Jessica Reid ('11) reduced the lead to a scant four points. The Rangers were outscored by double digits in the first half, as the Pioneers' forward Asia Johnson ('09) dropped 11 buckets alone to match the Rangers, who went 11-31 in shots.

Continued...

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