After losing 55-53 to Hiram College in their final regular season game Saturday, a flip of the coin was to determine the Yeowomen’s fate.
With the loss, Oberlin College women’s basketball team remained tied with Hiram for eighth place in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings and thus for the final tournament slot.
Fortunately, the tiebreaker, consisting of a coin flip since the team had split its two games with Hiram during the season, went in Oberlin’s favor, giving them a chance to compete for one last time this season against first-place Wittenberg University Tuesday.
The team drew a lot of support from the community in the seniors’ last home game against Hiram, according to sophomore Nicole Buford.
“The crowd was great. They really encouraged us to play well,” she said. “I really appreciate everyone who came out to the game. This was the biggest crowd we had all season.”
The support from the crowd propelled the Yeowomen off to a flying start and almost to a winning finish.
“We had a 15-point lead at one point in the first half,” senior Sonja Spencer said. “We just couldn’t expand.”
Moreover, the Yeowomen led by nine points in the last six minutes of the game.
“We seemed to lose our composure in the last minutes,” head coach Christa Champion said. “At the same time, Hiram made the plays necessary to win the game.”
Senior Malisha Richardson led the Yeowomen in scoring with 16 points in addition to two blocks and three steals.
Junior Emily Wells contributed 15 points and led the team in rebounding with ten boards.
After the loss, the coin flipped the Yeowomen’s way, determining that they would face Wittenberg, whom they had lost barely a week before in the NCAC tournament.
“Our strategy [against Wittenberg],” Champion said, “was to try to rebound better and to slow the game down to keep it close so that we would have a chance to win it in the end.”
“We had Wittenberg playing our game plan,” sophomore Cristina Briboneria said. “It worked well, but we were on a scoring drought a really long time. At the end of the first half, we were already down by 19; our goal was to be within ten points.”
Wittenberg pulled away from the Yeowomen, winning 86-46 to advance to the semifinals of the NCAC tournament.
Richardson again led the scoring with 17 points.
“I don’t think we accomplished what we wanted to do this season,” Spencer said. “But it was a learning experience and will be helpful for the underclassmen for next season.”
“I enjoyed coaching the team this year and working with the players on their individual skills,” Champion said. “The individual improvements shown by the team members, both on the court and in their statistical performance has been very gratifying. There is a lot for this team to look forward to in the future!”