March 8, 2004

W. Cagers Lose Two

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It wasn’t exactly going out with a bang, but this weekend still had a number of positives for the women’s basketball team (9-18, 4-10 Ivy), which dropped both of its games this weekend to Yale (7-19, 4-9) and Brown (16-11, 9-5). In the Red’s 83-60 loss to the Bulldogs, Cornell failed to contain two of Yale’s biggest scorers, Erica Davis and Tory Mauseth. Mauseth managed seven 3-pointers on Friday night. In Cornell’s 68-51 loss to the Bears, Brown demonstrated its usual outstanding defense. In addition, Brown senior guard Tanara Golston once again proved herself to be the Bears’ top threat, scoring 18 points on the night.

On Friday, senior Katie Romey opened up the scoring against Yale, putting up the first four points of the game, and the Red charged out to a 10-5 lead. Despite the strong start, Yale came right back to take a 40-27 lead heading into halftime. Davis and Mauseth led this charge, with Mauseth draining four 3-pointers and Davis collecting an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double by the time the halftime buzzer sounded.

However, the last time these two teams met, the Red also trailed going into halftime. In the first contest, Cornell rallied for a 70-63 victory. This time, Cornell was too deep in the hole. The Bulldogs’ offense continued to pound the Red into submission, with Mauseth picking up another three 3-pointer and Chinenye Okafor garnering all of her game-total 11 points in the second half. As the Bulldogs rolled, Cornell went stagnant, and Yale went on to get the win, 83-60.

The next night saw some inspired play from both sides. Brown led much ofsize first half until the Red put together a 15-5 end-of-the-half run on the shoulders of senior Karen Force, who scored five points during that five minute period. The Red closed out the half up, 31-29.

The first 11 minutes of the second half were more of the same, with both sides trading baskets and playing tight defense. However, with the score tied 46-46, the Bears began to open up the scoring. Brown scored 13 consecutive points, putting the nail in the Red’s coffin. The Red only scored five additional points in the last nine minutes of play, and the game ended 68-51.

Though the team would have preferred victories, its losses were not in vain. Senior Tanya Karcic continued her dominance this season, scoring 18 points in Friday night’s game and 15 in the defensive showdown on Saturday. In addition, Force played in her school-record 108th game, while finishing her career fourth on the Red’s all-time scoring list with 1,257 points.

Archived article by Michael Pandolfini