Yeowomen Fall in Tourney
by Colin Smith

The season ended on Tuesday for Oberlin Women’s Basketball, as the seventh-seeded Yeowomen lost a tight game to the second-seeded Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops in the first round of the NCAC Tournament. The scoreboard showed 73-66, but the game was close until the very end. With the loss, the Lady Crimson finished the season at 10-14, improving upon last year’s mark of 6-19.
Six unanswered points in the game’s final minute sealed the win for Ohio Wesleyan, but Oberlin gave the Bishops a battle throughout the contest, with the Yeowomen leading for much of the first half. A two-point shot by junior Malisha Richardson gave Oberlin a 30-26 with 1:59 remaining in the first, before Ohio Wesleyan followed with six straight points, paving the way for a 33-32 Bishop lead at halftime.
The Yeowomen tied it at 37 early in the second half. The score was tied for most of the next seven minutes, but after the score was 49-all, Ohio Wesleyan went on a 24-15 run that effectively sealed the game with 18 seconds remaining. Appropriately, senior Nzinga Broussard made one final Oberlin basket in the last 10 seconds to bring the Yeowomen to 66.
“It was probably one of our best games the whole season,” Broussard said. “I think we might have scared Ohio Wesleyan. [The game] just came down to who put the little shots in.”
Junior Sonja Spencer echoed that sentiment. “We stayed with them the whole game.” She added that a big factor in the game was “decision making in some situations. We don’t always make the right decisions.”
Broussard and Richardson led the scoring for Oberlin, each posting 19 points. Spencer also reached double-digits with 12 points, including three three-pointers. Sophomore Tranice Harrell led with nine rebounds, and sophomore Amber Coleman had four steals.
Broussard ended her college career by playing the game’s entire 40 minutes. She finished the season as the team’s leading scorer with 466 points, shooting .414 from the field. She also led the team in rebounds with 185, assists with 125 and steals with 129.
See Women’s Hoops, page 16
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“She’s my hero,” Spencer said of her record-setting teammate. “She’s so awesome.”
Broussard’s name appears frequently in the Oberlin women’s basketball record books. Among her marks are Oberlin’s career records for scoring with 1693 points, free-throw percentage with .718, assists with 436 and steals with 412. She also set the NCAC single-game record for steals, with 13 against Wooster earlier this season. Some of the records Broussard broke had been held by Head Coach and Oberlin alumnus Ann Gilbert.
“To know that I was able to break some of her records is exciting,” Broussard said. “It really does feel good.”

Oberlin lost its final regular season game, 81-55, but the loss did not affect their place in the standings. The seventh place finish and the 5-11 mark in the NCAC matched last year’s results exactly.
“The challenges we’ve had this season are going to really help the team next year,” Broussard said.
Spencer said the team will need someone to pick up Broussard’s 19 points a game, but “if we step up next year we can really win some games.”

With only two graduating seniors, the teams stands to have a good-sized returning core next season.