Big losses against top teams in nation

The problem about teams in the top 15 of the nation is that they tend to eviscerate you. The Drew University Women’s Basketball Team learned that this week when they took on Scranton University and Moravian University but got an ego boost by defeating New Jersey City University.
Moravian is 13th in the nation, although Drew did play admirably against them, earning 70 points to their 108. game. Guard Katherine Luby (’12) made the 8-5 score with a three pointer. But the Greyhounds replied with nine more points.
The Rangers had one more rally in the first half with a string of offensive possessions, cutting the opposition’s lead to nine before the period ended. They ended the half down 13 points with the score of 49-36.
The Rangers used the second half as a learning experience for their players, fielding the younger women so they could gain valuable experience against one of the top teams in the country. The results were mixed. The heavily experienced Greyhounds extended their lead.
Forward/Guard Jana Jagodzinski (’13) reached new career scoring heights with nine points and eight rebounds. Ault had her season high with 13 points. Guard Brenda Kramer (’13) had 13 solid minutes in her first game back from an injury.
Drew had little time to lick their wounds before playing the seventh in the nation, Scranton, on their home turf in Pennsylvania. The Royals beat the Rangers 61-47 by using an early first half run to build a double digit lead that continued to daunt the Rangers for the rest of the game.
Despite the Royal’s ranking, Drew managed to keep close to them points-wise. Drew led 4-3 on Guard Danielle Barber’s (’12) layup with fifteen minutes left in the half.  The Royals responded with a 20-4 run that would give the hosts the lead they refused to relinquish. Seven different Royals scored as Scranton showed off its depth.
In the second half, Drew had an upsurge, cutting the lead to single digits as Forward Jessica Reid (’11) executed a layup to make it 37-28 with fourteen minutes left in the game. Drew did well to prevent the Royals, who had won their last three home games by an average of 31 points, from burying them. Scranton’s lead only remained around 10 before some late free throws expanded the difference between the two.
Head Women’s Basketball Coach Gail Gilchrest said, “In regards to Scranton and Moravian, the two top 15 teams back to back is tough with such a young team. But on the second day, we proved we can compete by only losing by 14 to Scranton.”
As for the game against the Gothic Knights, Drew was finally back in the ball game. “Last night was a much needed win for us… we needed a win to carry us into this weekend. We played really well together last nigh as a team and that’s what we need to do to win this weekend. We need to continue to box out and limit our turnovers. If we do that we will win this weekend.” Forward Jessica Del Vecchio (’11) said.
Gilchrest agreed. She said “[With] four players in double figures and 33 points off the bench, I think we are starting to believe in our depth and learn to rely on each other, not individual players.  We just need to continue to limit our turnovers by keeping it simple and making smart decisions.”
The Rangers improved their record to 11-8. They spread their offense around and saw four players reach double digits in scoring. The first half was back and fourth through the first ten minutes. Barber pulled away from the Gothic Knights with a three-pointer that put them up 21-18, with eight minutes remaining in the half. Del Vecchio and Guard/Forward Dana Cornato (’11) each scored three’s to give Drew a ten-point lead up which they help up until the knights scored a quick ten points to bring them within one of the Rangers. Kramer managed to salvage the situation by converting a classic three-point play that helped the Rangers take a 36-30 lead into the half.
The Rangers were on fire during the second half. The Rangers were up 20 points before the Gothic Knights had a chance to respond at thirteen minutes. NJCU took advantage of a Drew turnover and came within 10 of the Rangers. They would later come as close as six points, and scored another five turnovers in three minutes. However, the Rangers managed to send Kramer and Ault through for two more nice baskets to secure the 68-58 win.
Gilchrest was proud of her team. She said, “It is great to have matched last years win total with 6 games remaining.  This is the toughest stretch of a 5 month season so we need to be mentally tough and limit our mistakes.  Also, it is great to see many of our freshman really start to gel with our returners and give us quality minutes.”
The Rangers will be on the road all weekend taking on the Juniata Eagles Friday 2/5, at 5:30pm and the Susquehanna Crusaders the following day at 2:00pm.