The women’s basketball team’s four-game winning streak ended Jan. 30 when the team fell to Nazareth College 63–54. The Bombers are now 7–3 in the Empire 8 Conference and 6–5 on the road. The team’s overall record stands at 11–8.
The game kicked off very tight with neither team ever leading by more than four points. The first quarter ended with the Golden Flyers leading 14–13 after senior center Lindsey Kelly made a layup with five seconds left. The Bombers remained down by one point to end the first half 28–27 .
The game got away from them in the third quarter after the Golden Flyers outscored them 21–12 to extend their lead to 10. The Bombers were not able to score with the frequency Nazareth did giving up 6–0 and 8–3 runs that included a buzzer-beating layup from senior guard Veronica Peck. The Blue and Gold barely outscored the Golden Flyers in the fourth quarter 15–14 and ultimately fell short to them.
The Bombers were not able to carry their shooting accuracy into this game, only hitting 20 of 63 shot attempts from the field and five of 18 shots from behind the 3-point line. Nazareth hit 23 of 57 shots and hit nine 3-pointers.
The big downfalls for the South Hill squad were rebounding and transition offense, the Golden Flyers outrebounded the Bombers 44–34 and neither team scored on the fast break, which was detrimental for the Bombers who like to run with the ball on offense.
Junior forward Erin Ferguson took charge for the Blue and Gold offense with 12 points. Sophomore guard Jordan Beers had 11 points, six rebounds and four assists, and senior guard Keri Steele logged eight points. Freshman guard Annie Giannone put up six points, junior forward Ali Ricchiuti and sophomore guard Allison Spaschak each dropped five points.
Nazareth was led by Kelly who put up 26 points and 17 rebounds for the Golden Flyers in 34 minutes of play. Senior guard Sam Sorge was the only other player in double figures with 17 points. Sophomore guard Samantha Peebles grabbed 14 rebounds in 39 minutes of play.
The South Hill squad will return to the hardwood at 8 p.m. Feb. 4 in Ben Light Gymnasium when it takes on St. John Fisher College.
