2008 Woodie Awards
Heartbreaking Loss For Lady Hawks
Jose Ortiz
Issue date: 12/2/04 Section: Sports
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The William Paterson Pioneers basketball team proved that Red Hawk Stephanie Machin is human, and that she can be stopped. By holding Machin to just one second half field goal, and the rest of the Lady Hawks to just eight, the Pioneers were able to steal one away from the Red Hawks at Panzer Gym on Wednesday night.
With just 2:07 remaining in the game with the Red Hawks down by one, Machin missed two key free throws, and Pioneer freshman, Lauren Miller capitalized, draining a jumper with just 1:47 remaining to put WPU up by 3, and the Red Hawks were never able to regain the lead.
The game began well enough for MSU who came out with a defensive intensity that, in the early goings, overwhelmed the Pioneers. Within the first seven minutes of the game the Red Hawks had accumulated a 14-7 lead, with five steals, while the Pioneers couldn't manage to stop the hot MSU shooting.
In the first half the Lady Hawks shot over 46 percent from the floor, while WPU shot just 37 percent. MSU had a golden opportunity to put the game further out of reach in the first half when the Pioneers went over the foul limit with almost twelve minutes remaining before the intermission. However, from that point on the Red Hawks only went to the line twice, and took a 28 - 25 lead into the break.
In the second half, poor field goal and free throw shooting by the Lady Hawks, and great free throw shooting by the Pioneers allowed the Pioneers to hang around and to eventually retake the lead. MSU hit just 30 percent of their shots and justseven of their last 13 free throws. Meanwhile the Pioneers were able to drain over 82 percent of their free throws, and that made the difference in the game.
"It was a combo of not boxing out on certain plays and not knocking down free throws," said MSU Head Coach Beth O'Boyle. "Taking care of the little things during the game also made a difference. We didn't finish our possessions and that really hurt us in the end."
Looking at the stat sheet, it can be said that MSU completely out played WPU, and let the victory slip out of their hands. WPU led for just seven minutes and 25 seconds, MSU led for the other 32:35. The largest lead the pioneers could muster against MSU's feisty D was just five, and that was towards the end of the first half, and with 14 seconds left in the match, when the game was already lost. The Red Hawks on the other hand led by as many as nine and held at least a five-point lead on eight different possessions.
"We still a very young team," said O'Boyle. "Both teams played very hard, but we didn't make them play hard enough defense all the time."
With 11 steals and seven blocked shots, the Red Hawks appeared to be the superior team throughout the game, and were it not for the perfect 11-11 free throw shooting by Pioneer, Luci Custiswho, who finished with 23 points, the Red Hawks would have most certainly come away with the win.
Machin finished the game with 12 points despite her 5-16 shooting performance. Jessica Garrabrant scored eight points, along with four steals and two blocked shots.
"There are two more practices, then we have to prepare from Rutgers-Newark," said O'Boyle. "We will get better."
With just 2:07 remaining in the game with the Red Hawks down by one, Machin missed two key free throws, and Pioneer freshman, Lauren Miller capitalized, draining a jumper with just 1:47 remaining to put WPU up by 3, and the Red Hawks were never able to regain the lead.
The game began well enough for MSU who came out with a defensive intensity that, in the early goings, overwhelmed the Pioneers. Within the first seven minutes of the game the Red Hawks had accumulated a 14-7 lead, with five steals, while the Pioneers couldn't manage to stop the hot MSU shooting.
In the first half the Lady Hawks shot over 46 percent from the floor, while WPU shot just 37 percent. MSU had a golden opportunity to put the game further out of reach in the first half when the Pioneers went over the foul limit with almost twelve minutes remaining before the intermission. However, from that point on the Red Hawks only went to the line twice, and took a 28 - 25 lead into the break.
In the second half, poor field goal and free throw shooting by the Lady Hawks, and great free throw shooting by the Pioneers allowed the Pioneers to hang around and to eventually retake the lead. MSU hit just 30 percent of their shots and justseven of their last 13 free throws. Meanwhile the Pioneers were able to drain over 82 percent of their free throws, and that made the difference in the game.
"It was a combo of not boxing out on certain plays and not knocking down free throws," said MSU Head Coach Beth O'Boyle. "Taking care of the little things during the game also made a difference. We didn't finish our possessions and that really hurt us in the end."
Looking at the stat sheet, it can be said that MSU completely out played WPU, and let the victory slip out of their hands. WPU led for just seven minutes and 25 seconds, MSU led for the other 32:35. The largest lead the pioneers could muster against MSU's feisty D was just five, and that was towards the end of the first half, and with 14 seconds left in the match, when the game was already lost. The Red Hawks on the other hand led by as many as nine and held at least a five-point lead on eight different possessions.
"We still a very young team," said O'Boyle. "Both teams played very hard, but we didn't make them play hard enough defense all the time."
With 11 steals and seven blocked shots, the Red Hawks appeared to be the superior team throughout the game, and were it not for the perfect 11-11 free throw shooting by Pioneer, Luci Custiswho, who finished with 23 points, the Red Hawks would have most certainly come away with the win.
Machin finished the game with 12 points despite her 5-16 shooting performance. Jessica Garrabrant scored eight points, along with four steals and two blocked shots.
"There are two more practices, then we have to prepare from Rutgers-Newark," said O'Boyle. "We will get better."