Lady Hoopsters Begin Season at 1-5

The Oberlin women's basketball team isn't exactly off to their best start, compared to recent years, but the season is young and the pieces will surely fall in place for the young team.

This past Wednesday, the Yeowomen traveled to Meadesville, Pa., to face a tough Allegheny College team, and lost 76-72. The team got off to a good start as they out-shot Allegheny in the first half from the floor, and made 10 of 13 free throws to take a 39-38 lead at halftime.

The second half, however, was a totally different story, as the Yeowomen went ice cold from the floor and only made 9 of 37 field goals (24.3 percent). They did continue to stay hot from the free throw line, by making 12 of 14 attempts. A big contributor to the team's excellent charity stripe shooting was junior point guard Nzinga Broussard. Broussard made all seven of her free throw attempts, and also scored 24 points for the game while dishing out three assists. Sophomore Malisha Richardson also added 20 points and six rebounds to the cause, but the efforts of the two were not enough as the Yeowomen fell victim to the Gators' hot shooting.

The Yeowomen's youth certainly played a large role in the team's loss to Allegheny, as they managed to stay close to the Gators up to the last few minutes.

Said Assistant Coach Don Hunsinger, "We played a really good game in everything except our rebounding."

Last weekend the Yeowomen traveled to Marietta College to take place in a weekend tournament, and also picked up their first victory. The Yeowomen defeated Thiel College easily by a score of 74-49, but also lost starting guard Tessa Stevens to injury early in the contest.

Said Hunsinger, "The loss of Tessa definitely hurt us in the later games."

In the victory over Thiel, Broussard scored 18 points, Richardson added 15, and junior center Rachael Barbee added 16 points.

Barbee and Broussard were also named to the All-Tournament team at Marietta.

The Yeowomen will look to avenge their early season losses in a contest at Bluffton College on Saturday, at 2:00 p.m.