The Shepherd Rams women’s basketball team lost at home Saturday afternoon to the Glenville State College Pioneers 84-67.
While the defensive statistics for the Rams looked fairly impressive, allowing the Pioneers to shoot 35.8 percent for the game, the Rams struggled in two key areas: defending the three-pointer and committing turnovers. The Pioneers found life with their three-point shot, shooting 11-of-37 from beyond the arc. Defensively, the Pioneers generated 23 points off of Rams’ turnovers. Shepherd was sloppy with their ball-handling.
With the score at 60-57 in favor of the Pioneers through three quarters, the Rams were within striking distance. However, the Rams gave up 24 points in the final frame that sealed their fate. With the mid-range game not working, the Pioneers looked to the three-point shot that had been working for them the whole game. The Pioneers finished the game off by getting hot from downtown, making three three-pointers that put the game out of reach for the Rams. Paris McLeod led the Pioneers with 18 points and teammate Courtney Davis contributed 16 points and nine rebounds in the winning effort. They did not have to do the scoring by themselves, however, as five Pioneer players reached double figures in scoring for the game.
For as much as the Rams struggled with turning the ball over, they more than made up for it with their presence in the paint, scoring 40 points there. Senior forward Liz Myers led the assault of the paint with a double-double with 10 points and a career-best 19 rebounds. Junior guard Morgan Arden was the leading scorer for the Rams with 18 points, while senior guard Cara Mason had 15 points.
Getting in the paint was clearly the game plan for the Rams, as the team shot just five three-pointers, making one of them. Even as they fell behind in the fourth quarter, the Rams did not attempt a single three-pointer to generate a spark offensively.
Both teams fought tremendously hard on the glass, with each team grabbing 48 rebounds a piece.
The Rams will look to get back on the right track and having a winning-record with a victory at West Virginia Wesleyan at 5;30 Monday afternoon.
Anthony Bracken is a Sports Reporter for The Picket. He can be reached at abrack02@rams.shepherd.edu