Photo by Benjamin White for The Lafayette
Sophomore guard Talia Zurinaskas scored a team-high 12 points in Wednesday’s loss.
The women’s basketball team lost back-to-back contests, falling to American University in a Saturday afternoon home showcase and floundering on Wednesday against the Patriot League’s top-seeded Navy.
Saturday’s matchup saw the shorthanded Leopards (4-7 Patriot League, 8-14 overall) struggle against American (4-7 Patriot League, 6-16 overall). The story of the opening quarter was second-chance opportunities, as the Eagles collected seven offensive rebounds.
“Offensive rebounds, they’re unacceptable,” freshman forward Maddison Krug said. “It’s all on hustle. I think that’s definitely an area that we can get better at.”
After a sluggish first quarter offensively, the Leopards found their footing in the second, putting up 20 points in the frame. American kept pace with 17 points, as the Leopards entered halftime down 34-33.
Both squads traded blows in the third quarter. Leading scorer on the season, junior guard Teresa Kiewiet, chipped in five points and freshman guard Haylie Adamski knocked down two three-pointers, but cleaning up the defensive glass remained an issue, as the Eagles tallied five more offensive boards.
Entering the final quarter down two points, Adamski laced up a left-wing three, and junior guard Rosie Scognamiglio found Krug wide open under the basket to tie the game.
A couple of possessions later, the Leopards broke the Eagles’ full-court press. As Scognamiglio attacked the basket, Adamski spotted up wide open in the right corner, shouted, “Rosie” at the top of her lungs, received the pass and knocked down the open three-pointer to take the lead 55-54.
“My job is to get to the corner and shoot,” Adamski said. “Spreading out the floor helps everybody else get driving lanes, so it’s important I talk when I’m open, I get the ball.”
Despite the lead change, American continued to get easy looks at the basket, between pick-and-roll sets and finding their post players inside.
“I think at the end of the game, we just maybe lost focus a little bit of the details, and they squeezed right through there,” sophomore guard Talia Zurinskas said.
Turnovers, fouls and missed shots were all the Maroon and White could muster in the closing minutes, falling 70-60. Kiewiet led the Leopards with 16 points on 7-of-18 shooting.
The Leopards had a chance to get back in the win column on Wednesday night on the road against Navy (10-1 Patriot League, 15-6 overall).
A two-point second quarter saw the Maroon and White fall behind 34-13 entering halftime, having difficulties converting from downtown en route to a 3-of-24 three-point outing.
“We have really good shooters on our team, so I’m not worried about the next couple of games,” Zurinskas said.
Krug continued to generate extra effort opportunities, securing seven offensive rebounds in the contest.
“We obviously weren’t hitting, but the second chance opportunities gave us another shot,” Krug said. “I think that we all just need to capitalize on that.”
The third quarter was a return to form offensively for the Leopards, as Kiewiet, Krug, Zurinskas and sophomore forward Jordyn Mays combined for 14 points in the frame, but the Midshipmen kept the floodgates open in their offensive tidal wave, taking a game-high 33-point lead midway through the quarter.
While the visitors found their footing in the final frame, putting together an impressive 19-6 quarter, it was too little, much too late, as the Leopards lost 62-46.
The Maroon and White have their hands full again with a matchup against Army West Point (8-3 Patriot League, 17-5 overall) on Saturday.
“Army’s gonna be really tough, they have a bunch of good athletes,” Zurinskas said. “Just being ready to play physically, and then also limit turnovers and just play hard overall.”