The AU women’s basketball team entered the Bender Arena locker room at halftime on Dec. 3 with a one-point lead over the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, but they more than doubled their point total in the second half to roll to a 77-51 victory.
Despite a rocky first half, the Eagles (3-3, 0-0 PL) controlled the pace of play during the second 20 minutes of the match, and their patience resulted in a smoother, more fluid effort. Senior guard Jen Dumiak ran the offense for the Eagles, recording 12 rebounds and 10 points to notch her second double-double of the year. Junior forward Michelle Holmes, who was named D.C. Trails Player of the Game, added to AU’s success, as she led both teams in scoring with 20 points.
“I think the biggest thing for me was second half because I know in the locker room they told me to be confident when I shoot, and I struggled with that the last couple games, so being confident in my shot was good,” Holmes said. “My teammates having confidence in me to give me the ball is a great feeling.”
Sophomore forward Lauren Crisler also recorded a career-high of 16 points to help AU secure the win and move to a .500 season record.
AU propelled to an early 7-0 lead at the start of the first half, but UMBC (3-3, 0-0) rallied to keep the score close. The Retrievers received a surge after two free throws from sophomore center Infiniti Alston put them ahead 19-17, and they fought the Eagles until the final seconds of the half.
Fouls plagued both teams as the game progressed. UMBC junior guard Liz McNaughton fouled out in the second half, and AU junior forward Michelle Holmes, senior forward Arron Zimmerman and Crisler each recorded four personal fouls.
The physical play brought each team to the free throw line constantly, and the Eagles capitalized on their numerous free throw opportunities, hitting 93.5 percent from the line, while UMBC, in comparison, only converted on 51.9 percent of their chances. Dumiak and Crisler remained perfect on their free throw attempts, hitting eight for eight of their shots, respectively.
The Eagles have scored over 70 points in two consecutive games, and second year head coach Megan Gebbia attributes their high scoring to free throw success.
“We shot 31 free throws, and we made 29 of the 31, so when you do that, you’re going to put up more points than you typically do,” she said.
AU generated a nearly 20-point scoring run in the second half, allowing Gebbia to open her bench and provide her underclassmen with significantly more playing time than they have seen in the past. She believes that the extra time on the court will allow her younger players to develop confidence as they move through the rest of their schedule.
“We have a lot of freshman coming off the bench, and for them to get good quality minutes in a game where they’re playing five, six, seven minutes in a row is helpful for them,” Gebbia said. “Hopefully the freshmen have confidence now when they go in a game that they can add to what we’re doing out there.”
The Eagles continue their schedule with a stream of away games, beginning with a matchup against University of Massachusetts on Dec. 6 at noon.
“We’ve got some tough opponents coming up in UMass and Maryland in the next two games so we’ve got to get back to practice the next few days and make sure that we’re doing our shooting drills and we’re shooting rhythm and we’re playing together,” Gebbia said.
