The Emerson women’s basketball team lost to the Wheaton Lyons on Jan. 18, ending their three game win streak. It marked their first defeat against a NEWMAC opponent in two conference match-ups.
Junior guard Ella Bushee netted 11 points and senior forward Carla Pelino had 10 rebounds for the Lions, who fell 44-59 at the Bobbi Brown and Steven Plofker Gym.
Head Coach Bill Gould was pleased with the team’s performance, despite the loss.
“We played hard, we played smart, we had energy the whole game,” said Gould. “We just didn’t come out on top, but it was a good game.”
The game started out slow with no team being able to score for the first minute and a half, until Pelino broke the scoring drought with a jump shot. Wheaton took the lead soon after by seven points, which they maintained through the quarter. Sophomore forward Mackenzie Bruno and junior guard Olivia Deslauriers came back with shots made to shrink Emerson’s deficit to five points by the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter went better for the Lions, who retook the lead with a 12-point run via multiple Emerson players who brought the score to 31-23. Along with the good shooting, Emerson held a strong defensive outing as well.
“We knew what we were trying to do defensively, which is trying to play solid team defense,” said Gould. “[Wheaton] has some really good players and I thought we did a really nice job making adjustments.”
After the 12-point run, Wheaton scored seven more points to end the half 31-30 with Emerson in front.
Pelino started the third quarter with a layup, and what followed was an intense back-and-forth. No one scored for a three-minute period in part to strong defense and weak offense on both sides. Both the Lions and the Lyons traded points and the quarter ended all tied up at 41 points.
The fourth quarter saw a drastic drop in offense from Emerson. They missed several shots and only scored one three-pointer the entire quarter.
“We just ran out of gas or something at the end of the fourth quarter,” said Gould about the team’s shooting ability.
Wheaton dominated in the last 10 minutes, scoring 18 points, and ended the game with a pair of three-pointers.
“I thought we played a great game and we played three quarters of good offense.” said Gould. “We just couldn’t put the ball in the basket in the fourth quarter, but we played a great game.”
The Lions continue their three game home stretch of NEWMAC opponents with games against Wellesley on Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. and Worcester Polytechnic Institute on Jan. 28 at 1 p.m. Emerson lost their last meeting against Wellesley and have not played WPI this season. Both games will be in the Bobbi Brown and Steven Plofker Gym.
