Women’s basketball shoots hot, then not in openers

Following Friday night’s 66-63 season-opening win at the Chicoine Center, CSC Head Basketball coach Janet Raymer, speaking to CSC Sports Information, said she believed her team was more mature this year and better able to identify quality shots. 

That certainly seemed to be the case after the team downed Texas A&M International University, Friday, while shooting 50.9 percent from the field. They followed the performance by shooting 53.85 percent in the first quarter of their 63-57 home loss to Texas A&M Kingsville, Saturday. 

But in the second quarter the team hit just three of 10 shots, followed by an abysmal 10.53 percent during an ill-fated third quarter that likely cost the team the chance at beginning their season 2-0. The team ended with a 29.8 shooting percentage. 

“We weren’t taking some of the same shots,” Raymer said. “We were trying to really force it on one side instead of reversing it and moving it as well as we did (Friday.)” 

Last weekend marked the third straight season the Eagle women have started their schedule against the two Texas teams and the second consecutive season they’ve gone 1-1 to open after winning both games in 2017-2018.  

This week the team travels to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for the University of Sioux Falls Classic. There they’ll face Bemidji State on Friday at noon and play host USF Saturday at 4 p.m. 

Friday, the Eagles dominated International in the second quarter, allowing them just five points and leading 28-17 after two quarters. But down by 14 with about seven minutes remaining in the game, the Dustdevils began chipping away at the Eagles’ lead and eventually trailed by just one point with about minute left.

Within that last minute, International’s Clara Fernandez, freshman of Vitoria, Spain, and Josselin Geer, sophomore of Panama City, Florida, both missed three pointers before CSC’s Jori Peters, sophomore of Mitchell, sank two free throws to extend the Eagles lead to 65-63 with just under 30 seconds left in the game. The Dustdevils had multiple chances to tie the game, and even go ahead as the clock wound down, but again missed on a pair of threes. 

Against Kingsville, Saturday, the Eagles trailed just 36-35 at the half and outscored the Javalinas 14-11 in the fourth quarter, but were left trailing 52-43 after scoring just eight in the third and couldn’t overcome the deficit. 

“I think that we should have had a better effort tonight,” Raymer said. “I would like to see 2-0 at this point. Not satisfied for sure.”