The Oberlin women’s basketball team suffered two tough losses this past week — one to Ohio Wesleyan, 64-46, on Dec. 1 and the other to Allegheny (Pa.), 68-52, on Dec. 4.
According to Coach Ann Gilbert, the Yeowomen seemed intimidated by the Ohio Wesleyan team, the defending co-champions of the North Coast Athletic Conference.
“We knew they were the defending co-champions, and we played like it,” Gilbert said.
Oberlin scored only 15 points in the first half, a disappointing sum for a team that has averaged between 25 and 35 points in the first half this season. The Battling Bishops’ score of 31 points for the first half easily overshadowed the Yeowomen.
Despite such a disheartening beginning, the Yeowomen came back in the second half to score 31 points, a number almost equal to the second half total of their opponents, 32. This comeback was mostly due to the efforts of senior guard Nzinga Broussard, who scored 11 points, grabbed four rebounds and had four steals. Another honorable effort came from junior forward Malisha Richardson, who scored 13 points and snatched seven rebounds. Richardson and Broussard’s work was complemented by junior Sonja Spencer, who contributed nine points and three assists.
“We didn’t shoot well,” Gilbert said of her team, which earned such low shooting percentages as 27 percent from the field and 16 percent from the free throw line. “We need to have more defensive intensity, and we struggled with rebounding and shooting. In practice, we’re going to go back to the basics and try to sharpen our fundamentals.”
The Yeowomen’s next contest against the Allegheny Gators proved to be just as grueling as the Ohio Wesleyan game. Traveling to Meadville, Penn. to battle the team that tied Ohio Wesleyan for the conference championship last year, the Yeowomen played to a much closer score of 68-52.
“It’s always a tough contest when we go down there, but I was very proud of our effort,” Gilbert said. “I wish this team would show up every night.”
By the end of the first half, Oberlin was leading Allegheny 31-27. This achievement was mainly due to the efforts of Broussard, who totaled 21 points, six rebounds, three assists and four steals for the game. Another consistently strong performance came from Richardson, who contributed 21 points, seven rebounds, one assist, one block and two steals.
Oberlin’s shining first half began with a three-pointer scored by Cristina Breboneria. The talented first-year went on to score a total of nine points, snatched three rebounds and blocked the Gators’ advances with three steals. However, in the second half, the Yeowomen seemed to lose their focus.
“We didn’t match their intensity — the first five minutes of the second half is a critical time, and we need to be intense,” Gilbert said.
One minute and 50 seconds into the second half, Allegheny had tied up the score with a three-pointer and a lay-up.
“The momentum shifted, and they controlled the tempo,” Gilbert said of the Gators, who grabbed 30 more rebounds than the Yeowomen. From that moment on, Oberlin was constantly playing catch-up. Oberlin struggled to get the ball in the basket in the second half, and once the Yeowomen gave the Gators a window in which to get ahead, Oberlin was in a hole they couldn’t crawl out of. With only five turnovers, Allegheny gained a 16 point lead to end the game.
The Yeowomen will play next at Earlham (Ind.) at 1 p.m. tomorrow in a double-header with the men’s team. Earlham is another one of the top teams in the NCAC, but Gilbert insists that the odds are looking good. “It’s hard when we start out playing the top teams, but we’ve played them well. We’d like to win that game so we can leave for the holidays with a 4-4 record. Hopefully the team that is most prepared will win that game,” Gilbert said.
The Yeowomen will look to improve their record in seven home games over break. They will face Pitt-Greensburg (Pa.) on Dec. 28 at 7:30 p.m., Kenyon on Jan. 5 at 7:30 p.m., Wooster on Jan. 9 at 7:30 p.m., Hiram on Jan. 19 at 3:15 p.m., Denison on Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m., Earlham (Ind.) on Jan. 26 at 1 p.m., and Kenyon on Feb. 2 at 7:30 p.m.