The Eagles began the second half on a 25-6 run to break open a close game and overcome the eighth-seeded Lafayette Leopards 79-56 in the Patriot League Quarterfinals March 6 at Bender Arena. The Eagles led by five at halftime but quickly opened up a double digit lead that stretched to as many as 31 points during a second half where the Eagles shot 46.9 percent from the field.
“You never know going into the first round of the playoffs how the girls are going to react--are they nervous, are they anxious, how do they feel,” head coach Megan Gebbia said. “ I think once we relaxed and got into the second half we really started to play our defense we just kind of rolled from there.”
Next up, the Eagles face fifth seeded Navy on March 9 at 7 p.m. in Bender Arena. The Mids defeated Bucknell 60-49 on March 6 in their Quarterfinal matchup. The Eagles defeated the Mids twice in the regular season, including a 41-29 road victory less than two weeks ago.
“They’re [Navy] second in the league in scoring defense so we’ve got to make sure we’re running on all cylinders on offense and just make sure we’re playing relaxed and loose,” Gebbia said of the Eagles next opponents. “If we play our game we have a great chance to win that game.”
Senior forward Arron Zimmerman led a balanced attack tonight for the Eagles with 17 points and seven rebounds. Junior forward Michelle Holmes tallied 14 points and senior guard Shaquilla Curtis filled up the stat sheet with 10 points, four rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals. Senior guard Jen Dumiak, recently named Patriot League Player of the year, was held well below her 16. 7 points-per-game, scoring only five points on 1-of-5 shooting, but recorded a team-high nine assists.
The Eagles started out sluggishly and trailed for the first six minutes of the first half. The Leopards scored the game’s first four points and held AU scoreless until the 17:14 mark. Curtis, the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, picked up the offensive slack in the early going, scoring the Eagles first six points on 2-of-3 shooting from the field. The rest of the Eagles started the game a combined 1-of-6.
AU took its first lead of the game after a fast break, culminating in Dumiak finding a streaking Holmes down the center of lane, who then made a tough layup through heavy contact. After the free throw from Holmes, AU was up 11-9.
The Leopards fought hard and were able to stay with the Eagles in the first half, matching a 7-0 Eagle run with a 7-0 run of their own to cut the Eagles’ lead to two. AU entered halftime with a slim 34-29 lead.
The second half was a stark contrast to the first, as the Eagles started hot from the field. Zimmerman opened up the half by hitting a three-pointer seconds then converted a layup after a Leopards turnover to stretch the Eagles’ halftime lead to double-digits. Zimmerman’s offense kick-started the large second half run that put the game out of reach. AU made 10 of their first 17 shots in the second half and forced seven Leopards turnovers in the first eight minutes of the second half.
After the Eagles extended their lead to 23 on a layup from sophomore forward Lauren Crisler, Coach Gebbia was able to give her starters a rest and the bench players played the final 11 minutes of regulation.
The Eagles were efficient with the ball, only turning the ball over four times while dishing out 22 assists on 28 made baskets. The Eagles outrebounded the Leopards 43-35 and forced 12 Leopard turnovers, 10 in the second half. AU got significant contributions from its bench, which outscored the Lafayette bench 27-5, and all 11 Eagles who saw game minutes scored.
“I feel like we had a better sense of urgency [in the second half] and since we all knew it was close, we had to break it away,” Curtis said of the contrast between the Eagles play in the first and second halves.
