Women’s basketball off to a bounding start

Junior transfer Kendra Meredith has made an appearance in every game so far this season. Photo Courtesy of David Sinclair, GC C&M

Junior transfer Kendra Meredith has made an appearance in every game so far this season.
Photo credit: David Sinclair, GC C&M

By Maddie Brown, Staff Writer

The Gettysburg College women’s basketball team took advantage of its home court Tuesday, November 29, defeating Johns Hopkins University Blue Jays 77-66.

Coach Nate Davis, who is in only his second season with Gettysburg, leads the young but deep squad. Davis comes from coaching five seasons at Eastern University, where he garnered a 79-52 record.

Assistants Kaleigh Boreman and Casey Thurston have also joined the team this year. Boreman played under Davis at Eastern for four years, and then she coached as a grad assistant for one year after, also at Eastern. Thurston played ball at Shippensburg University and Kutztown University before being the assistant coach at Shippensburg High School and then head coach at Gettysburg High School.

The Lady Bullets come off of a 19-6 record from last season. The team lost a handful of influential seniors to graduation, and no juniors returned for a final run. Thus, junior veterans Emily Gibbons and Jamie Relin now lead the women.

A third Junior, Kendra Meredith, is new to the team, having transferred from Southern Connecticut State College this fall. She is expected to start at point guard. With only three juniors, plus Emma Dorshimer as the single active sophomore, the Bullets were fortunate to have acquired nine first-years this season.

Coach Davis is pleasantly surprised by the first years’ early success.

“They are picking up on things quickly and aren’t too visibly nervous,” Davis said. “With so many new players that don’t know the expectations, it is definitely poses a challenge for the leaders on the team.”

The new challenge causes Coach Davis to rely heavily on Gibbons, Relin and Dorshimer to set the tone of the team culture.

Tuesday evening’s game had starting line-up with Gibbons and Dorshimer at the forward positions, first-years Ashley Gehrin and Kiera Cesareo as guards and Meredith at point. The Blue Jays also put forth a young squad, with only one senior amid four sophomores lining the bench.

Hopkins won the tip-off at the start, but Gettysburg seemed to take control for the remainder of the game. Sophomore Blue Jay Lexie Scholtz ran the point position for the opponent. The Blue Jays scored three three-point field goals in the first quarter.

On the Bullets side, though, Meredith was able to make a few effective fakes and score on a pair of lay-ups. The first quarter ended 21-17 Bullets.

In the second quarter, three-point shots abounded on both sides of the court. Notably, Gibbons put up seven points and consequentially became permanently face-guarded on defense by two Blue Jay forwards. The half ended 39-33 in Gettysburg’s favor.

The Bullets started to pull away early in the second half. Meredith made a number of assists to Gibbons, and Dorshimer claimed seven points in the first four minutes. Johns Hopkins coach Nancy Funk was forced to call several strategic timeouts in response.

These delays proved effective, as first-year Blue Jay Maggie Wodicka recorded five of nine points in the last minutes of the quarter. The third quarter finished with a score of 58-48 Gettysburg.

In the final period Coach Davis returned his starting five to the floor, yet no points were scored until two minutes and 30 seconds had passed. At this point Hopkins sophomore Lillian Scott earned eight of her 18 points on the night. The score grew closer, 61-56, and it forced Gettysburg to take a timeout. After, the Bullets pulled away in the latter part of the fourth quarter, and Hopkins was left with the only choice of a foul throw. The game ended 77-66 Gettysburg.

Gibbons finished the game with 19 points as well as 19 total rebounds. Meredith finished with 16 points, eight assists, eight defensive rebounds and three steals. Dorshimer had 23 points, 12 of which were three-point shots.

After this week’s win against Johns Hopkins, the Bullets stand 3-1 overall, and 2-0 in the Centennial Conference for the season.

 

 

Author: Web Editor

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