Women's Basketball 11/9/2021 12:00:00 AM

Women's Basketball Drops Season Opener

Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (November 9, 2021) – The Golden Bears opened the 2021-22 season hosting city rival Springfield College earlier this evening where the Pride remained in control to win the game 72-45.

Records:

Springfield: 2-0
Western New England: 0-1

How It Happened:

In the inaugural game of the 2021-22 season, the Pride struck first outscoring the Golden Bears 16-0 in the first five minutes. Baskets from Sam Hournam and Grace Dzindolet helped the Pride start the game off hot. Julia Quinn broke the scoring open with a three pointer at the 4:58 minute mark to make the score 16-3. The Pride quickly responded with two more baskets to make the score 20-3 which forced the Golden Bears to take their second time out of the quarter. Alexia Leon and Abby Garaban both made threes to make the score 25-8. Garaban then drew a foul with less than 1 second remaining in the quarter and made both free throws to make the score 25-10 at the end of the first quarter.

The Pride started the second quarter with the ball and immediately went back to Houriham who missed a three-point attempt. After a failed Golden Bear possession, the Pride added two more points on an Angela Czerechma layup. Lindsay Carey drove into the paint and sunk a layup at the 7:52 minute mark to make the score 27-12. After a Springfield timeout, a travel turned the ball over to the Golden Bears where they would then turn the ball back over to the Pride. After three failed possessions combined between the two teams, Sidney Wetland finally made a field goal for the Pride at the 6:10 minute mark. A shot clock violation by the Golden Bears gave the Pride the ball where they would quickly get two points from Houriham. Another turnover from the Golden Bears let the Pride drive back down the court where Wetland would draw a foul from Emma Elrod where she would go on to make one of two free throws. The Golden Bears then turned the ball over for 12^th-time, but the Pride would then lose possession on an offensive three second violation. Quinn drew a charge in Stephanie Lyons to give the Golden Bears the ball back at the 3:50 minute mark. After a two minute and 10 second stalemate, Wetland made a field goal for the Pride. Wetland then made another basket for the Pride after she stole the ball. Allison Ingalls quickly made up for the mistake with a three-point jump shot assisted by Quinn. Kayla Madden then fouled Ingalls where she would then go to make one of two shots at the line. Grace Dzindolet made two free throws with 40 seconds remaining in the half to make the score 38-16. Dzindolet then fouled Carey with 12 seconds left to give her two shots at the line where she would make both. The half ended with a score of 38-18 in favor of the Pride.

The Pride shot 15-for-28 from the field in the first half in comparison to the Golden Bears 5-for-24. The Golden Bears turned the ball over 15 times and the Pride would capitalize scoring 21 points off of turnovers. The Golden Bears had eight offensive rebounds over the Pride's six.

Springfield started the second half off with a basket from Rachel Vinson. The Pride then stole the ball back from the Golden Bears but were unsuccessful in their attempt to score as Colleen Furlong grabbed a defensive rebound. WNE then pushed up the court where Garaban would make a mid-range jump shot for WNE's first points of the half. Furlong grabbed another defensive rebound, but the Golden Bears were unable to score afterwards. Another shot made by Vinton gave the Pride a 22-point lead but Kahn cut that lead down to 19 after a corner three. Wetland then made two free throws after a foul from Grace Fisher. After a failed offensive possession, Fisher would then foul Wetland again where she would make one of two shots from the line. A shot clock violation from WNE at the 5:45 mark turned the ball over to the Pride, but they were unsuccessful on their next drive. Leon grabbed a defensive rebound but, Garaban turned the ball back and the Pride would then push the fast break where Vinton would make a basket and draw a foul from Kahn. Vinton missed the free throw and would then foul Garaban after her offensive rebound. Garaban would make both of her two shots at the line. A minute later, Garaban would euro step her way to the basket for two more points. Vinton responded with a layup of her own and Angela Czerechma would follow up with another layup after another Golden Bear turnover. Vinton then stole the ball two possessions in a row where both would end up with uncontested shots for the Pride guard. The Golden Bears then called their first timeout of the half and responded with Ingalls making another layup via euro step. Elrod would foul Czerechma after her offensive rebound and she would make both shots at the line. Sam Bodey responded with a three to make the score 57-32 in favor of the Pride. Leon was then fouled in transition after a Springfield miss to give her two shots at the line where she would be successful on one. Springfield's Stephanie Lyons then sunk a buzzer beater to end the quarter with the score at 59-33.

WNE started the final quarter with the ball and Elrod drew a foul from Hourihan. Elrod made one of two shots at the line. A steal at the other end of the court by Kahn pushed the Golden Bears on the fast break. Leon pushed the ball and found the trailing Kahn for a three-pointer causing Springfield to call a timeout. Springfield would then fail on their next offensive attempt as would the Golden Bears. A double dribble call on Lyons gave the Golden Bears the ball right back. A mid-range jumper on the baseline from Shaina Cooney assisted by Bodey made the score 59-39. A turnover by both teams would give Springfield the ball back where Vinton would make another layup. Bodey then missed a three on the other side of the court and Kahn fouled Vinton after her offensive rebound to give her two shots at the line. Vinton would only make one shot. A block by Madden would then give the Pride the chance to push the fast break where Lyons would make an uncontested layup. Another steal by Vinton would follow as she would make a layup to make the score 66-39. Vinton would find Czerechma who would find the bottom of the net to give the Pride two more points. Lyons would then make another jump shot assisted by Wetland which would get the Pride to the 70-point mark. After a Springfield timeout Cooney stole the ball from Lyons to lay the ball in for two points. A jumper at the elbow by Czerechma assisted by Lindsey Laughlan would get those two points right back. A minute and thirty seconds later, Emma Novajasky made a layup for the Golden Bears to make the score 72-43. Cooney grabbed another steal but the hard work on defensive would not result in a basket for WNE. Cooney grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back into the basket as the clock hit zero and the game came to an end. Final score 72-45 in favor of Springfield College.

Inside the Numbers:

The Golden Bears shot 32.6 percent from the floor, 25.0 percent from three and 64.3 percent from the foul line while the Pride shot 46.8 percent from the floor, 14.3 percent from beyond the arc and 70.6 percent at the foul line.
Abby Garaban led the Golden Bears with 11 points while also tallying four rebounds.
Three athletes recorded six points apiece, Emma Kahn, Shaina Cooney and Allison Ingalls, all off the bench while Kahn also recorded five rebounds.
As a team, the Golden Bears tallied 31 rebounds, 11 offensive and 20 defensive, along with seven assists and five steals.