By: Justin Clear-Vekinis, News Correspondent
Last Sunday, the women’s basketball team surrendered just 48 points, their second-lowest total of the season, to the University of North Carolina-Wilmington Seahawks. But unfortunately for the Huskies, they also scored their lowest total of the season, losing 48-33.
The loss brings the team to 8-18 on the season and 3-12 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play.
Sophomore forward Christine Huber led the pack with 13 rebounds and nearly a third of the teams’ points – 10.
“Offensively, we struggled to score,” head coach Daynia La-Force Mann said. “Lots of pressure on our guards caused us a lot of problems, so we were forced to go inside and get our forwards to knock some points off.”
Sophomore and junior guards Deanna Kerkhof and Kashaia Cannon, who average 11.2 and12 points per game, respectively, each tallied just four points.
“Defensively, we kept them to a low score,” junior guard Jamie Conroy said. “Offensively, we just weren’t flowing well. We didn’t hit our shots, and were unable to put points on the board.”
Forward Brittany Blackwell led the 20-6 Seahawks with 17 points, and center Martha White added 14 points.
“Last time, we gave them 50 before the half,” La-Force Mann said. “We set a goal of not allowing them to score more than 50 this time. They average around 70 points per game, so we were focusing on being a better defensive team, not winning.”
The Seahawks started with a 9-0 run and were hardly pressured by the Huskies.
Going into the half, the Huskies were trailing 27-16, the lowest total UNCW has given up in a half all season.
Both teams struggled throughout the game, with UNCW shooting 32.7 percent and the Huskies shooting 30.2.
The Huskies managed to get more points on the board Thursday with three players reaching double-digit scoring, but still lost at home to the Hofstra Pride 80-61.
Cannon tallied 19 points with four steals, while Kerkhof notched 14 points. Conroy also managed to add 12 points, with five steals.
“We didn’t communicate well with each other, especially on defense,” Conroy said. “It led to our defense being poor and sloppy and the Pride were able to take advantage.”
The Huskies managed to barely outshoot the Pride and hit 47.9 percent from the field, while Hoftra shot 47.6 percent.
However, La-Force Mann’s squad posted a season-high 35 turnovers, which led to 40 points for the Pride.
“I felt we turned the ball over excessively,” La-Force Mann said. “Both teams combined for 59 turnovers – it was just a sloppy game as a whole. We couldn’t get into a rhythm offensively, but defensively we limited them. Overall I felt it was an extremely ugly and sloppy game.”
The Huskies resume action tonight when the Drexel University comes to Solomon Court for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
The last time the Dragons faced off versus the Huskies, they dealt the Huskies a 70-63 loss in Philadelphia.
“I think we need to keep up our intensity to win some games,” Conroy said. “We need to focus and communicate, so we can find our flow and then hit some shots.”
