By Skye Tulio
Sports Assignment Editor
The women’s basketball team defeated Edinboro last weekend in an exhibition match-up, 63-62. The Bonnies open their 2012-2013 campaign tomorrow at 1 p.m. against the Binghamton Bearcats.
Last season, the Bonnies held the Bearcats to a school-record nine first-half points and gave up the fewest points in a game since joining Division I. With its 49-34 victory, the team opened the season 5-0 on the road for the first time in program history.
For the past three years, Edinboro served as the Bonnies’ exhibition opponent. Last season, the team defeated the Fighting Scots, 75-65. This time proved to be similar to last year’s game, according to coach Jim Crowley.
“Last year we were in a situation where we knew our team really well,” Crowley said. “We played this team, and we were down at the last media (timeout), and people made plays, and we ended up being on the right side of the scoreboard— similar thing happened here. The two things that I really liked are that we made plays late and we took care of the ball, so both of those were really positive things.”
The Fighting Scots, ranked sixth in Division II, controlled the ball for the majority of the game, holding the Bonnies to 32.3 percent shooting in the first half. Leading by as much as 10 points, the Fighting Scots developed a 33-29 advantage by halftime.
Crowley said the Bonnies have a lot of work to do, and the exhibition game is the perfect opportunity to work out the kinks.
“We’re learning to trust one another and that was the thing defensively,” Crowley said. “We were leaving people out on islands because we were worried about our kids scoring instead of defending as a group. The best way to teach that is against another opponent, and hopefully our kids understand that and will get better from it.”
The Bonnies offense shot better in the second quarter, improving to 44 percent. Crowley said the Bonnies got out the nerves in the first half.
“We were a little stagnant sometimes offensively, but I felt like we got shots we like, and we’re going to be pretty good at (the shots) as we understand our pace of playing,” Crowley said. “Early, we were unsure and tentative with some of the shots. We weren’t taking them going just in the full of the offense and at the speed we need to.”
Taking control of the offense for the Bonnies and leading all scorers was junior forward Doris Ortega, recording 20 points with eight rebounds and three steals in 36 minutes. Senior guard Alaina Walker scored 10 points and accumulated nine boards.
The Bonnies’ five starters averaged 31.6 minutes, and five freshmen off the bench, Kelcie Rombach, Katie Healy, Emily Michael, Nyla Rueter and Hannah Little averaged 8.4 minutes off the bench
The Brown and White, trailing by three at the last media timeout, tied the score at 59 after a three-pointer by junior guard CeCe Dixon and a lay-in by Ortega.
Senior Ashley Zahn, fouled after attempting a three, hit both free throws, breaking the Fighting Scots lead to just one point. After senior Jordan McGee retrieved an Edinboro air ball, the guard handed the ball off to Dixon for the final play.
Dixon drove to the basket with 10 seconds left, laying the ball to McGee who nailed a 15-foot jump shot to solidify the win for the Bonnies with just 5.2 seconds remaining. Dixon finished with 18 points and five rebounds, and McGee scored four points total.
Ortega said the defense needs trust to stay in sync with one another, especially with the addition of six freshmen.
“Our defense is really built on trust,” Ortega said. “That’s something that is going to take time to occur because we do have a lot of new people and they have to step up this year. It’s something we have to correct in practice, and it will develop over time.”
Crowley said the team is still developing its roles, something they haven’t had to do in the past few seasons.
“For the last few years, everyone knew their roles,” Crowley said. “I don’t know, so how can they know? I don’t know who our sixth player is or our seventh, eighth or ninth or what they’re going to give us. It’s getting closer to knowing that, but that puts young players in a tough situation because they’re not sure exactly where, so we’ll tighten that up from a coaching standpoint as well.”
Crowley also said he was proud of his team for its resilience throughout the game, especially with a new group.
“We didn’t play very well and we gave them some easy scores,” Crowley said. “The second half was really frustrating as a coach because you get into a one possession game and give up a fairly easy score. I was really pleased we kept coming and showed some resiliency. It gave me a really good glimmer of hope that we have that and now I know we have it, so I just have to demand it more.”
