By Max Ferguson, Staff Writer
The Gettysburg women’s basketball team took a trip to Rhode Island College to take on the St. John Fisher Cardinals in the first round of the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Tournament this past Friday. Leading up to the tournament, the Bullets dominated the Centennial Conference with only one conference loss the entire season. This lone loss came from Johns Hopkins which they then rectified in the Centennial Conference finals to punch their ticket to the NCAA tournament. The Bullets’ conference title was their third straight, and the squad was ranked 24th nationally heading into the tournament. Gettysburg also had the second-longest winning streak in program history with 18 consecutive wins.
From the tipoff, St. John Fisher fired on all cylinders to contain the Bullets. The Cardinals did everything in their power defensively to get ahead. Although there was only a three-point differential going into the second quarter, points alone do not speak to the dynamics of this game.
Scoring issues plagued the Bullets going into the second quarter. Although shooting improved to 4-10, St. John Fisher still outshot and outscored the Bullets throughout the quarter. Gettysburg was outshot from three-point range, as they only attempted three shots from beyond the arc. Another issue for the Bullets was ball security. In the second quarter, Gettysburg had the ball stolen from them six times. Gettysburg’s continued turnovers throughout the second quarter made it difficult for them to string together a scoring run that would put them in a position to tie or take the lead. The half closed out with St. John Fisher leading 23-17.
The third quarter was Gettysburg’s best performance and the highlight was the three layups in a row from Shinya Lee ’25 and Emily Violante ’25. This string of unanswered baskets got the Bullets to dial into this game. The quarter ended with a tie game at 35 thanks to a buzzer beater by Reagan Chencik ’27 off an assist from AB Holsinger ’26.
Gettysburg couldn’t carry their momentum into the fourth quarter though and the team encountered more ball security issues. The Bullets committed 11 fouls in the fourth quarter alone. Gettysburg couldn’t close the gap due to a lack of defensive stops and the game ended with a final score of 55-46.
Although the women’s basketball season came to a close, expect the same success next year if not more, as the Bullets seek to build on what they’ve been building in recent years.
