Women's Basketball: Smooth Sailing

The women’s basketball team is continuing their season of domination. On Wednesday, Jan. 11 they faced Pitt-Bradford and won 54-37. They also defeated Franciscan, 83-44 on Saturday, Jan. 14. 

The women are currently 12-2 overall and 8-1 in the conference. Their sole conference loss comes from the current AMCC champion, La Roche.

In their first game of the new semester, the game started out as an intense battle for baskets. The first half ended with a six-point difference in the Lions favor. Behrend came back out for the second half ready to take the win, and started off strong with a 9-0 run. The Lions outscored the Panthers in the second half 29-18 to take the win.

Junior forward Holly Bourquin led the Lions with 18 points and eight rebounds. Senior guard Brittany Wilwohl added eight points for Behrend. Junior guard Aly Eagle also contributed two crucial three’s to secure the win.

Playing over a break is not easy, but for this team it is all about reaching their ultimate goal and getting extra practices in on their road to an AMCC title. 

“We used that time (over break) to get better and we absolutely did,” Eagle said. 

Saturday’s game against Franciscan was no different. The women came out ready for their eighth conference win. Franciscan walked into the game with only one win on the season and searching for a second. The Barons put up a fight but they were no match for Behrend.

It started out as a battle with the score being 15-11 after eight minutes of play. Sophomore forward Sarah Schweitzer began a big run for the Lions. She contributed eight points and six rebounds. 

Junior forward Julia Myers had her fourth double-double of the season. She led the Lions with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore guard Brianna Bayly had a big night as well. She recorded 13 points and seven rebounds.

This game was all about teamwork for Behrend. Every player had a chance to shine and took advantage of it. 

“We play as a unit,” Eagle said. “We are a very unselfish team and we all mesh very well together.”

Teamwork is one of the most important aspects of the game and that’s the number one priority for this team. Their teamwork shows in their stats. It’s never just one or two players that stand out; it’s about the whole team. It has brought them to the No. 2 spot in the conference just behind the Redhawks of La Roche. 

Their next face-off will be at Medaille on Thursday Jan. 19. The last time these two teams met, the Lions walked away with the win 69-57. Bourquin recorded a career-high 25 points in the game against the Mavericks. The women are determined and ready for this conference match-up. 

“We have a lot of motivation for this game on Thursday,” said Eagle. “We are practicing very hard to get ready for a huge road win.”

Coach Fornari is still fighting to get her first win at Medaille. She has been coaching at Behrend for 19 years and is still searching for the road win against the Mavericks. Medaille is one of their biggest rivals. Behrend is prepared for a tough battle and can’t wait to play.