Tag: women’s basketball

Women’s Basketball Grills the Gators

BY CHASE MARTINO // NOV. 18, 2018 // 

The Curry College women’s basketball team was very opportunistic in Thursday night’s home game versus Pine Manor. The Colonels forced 33 turnovers, and scored 41 points off of them, in a convincing 77- 53 win.

Curry dominated the whole night for its first win of the season, bringing its record to 1-2. The Colonels jumped out to a 21-8 lead after one quarter, and kept rolling the rest of the game. The Gators fell to 0-2.

“We were very aggressive in forcing mistakes and we were able to capitalize on the turnovers, which helped us get a must-needed win,” said coach Fran Elms.

Freshman Peyton Perine led Curry to its first win of the season. // COURTESY OF CURRY ATHLETICS

Peyton Perine and Emily Irwin led the way offensively, scoring 20 points and 19 points, respectively. Perine was an efficient 56 percent from the field on 9 of 16 shooting, and added 4 rebounds and 4 steals.

“I just felt like I was in a groove,” she said. “My teammates definitely helped me get so many good looks.”

The Colonels played smart basketball and worked the ball down low for a good portion of their points, scoring 34 in the paint. This, paired with the 41 points scored off turnovers, were the two biggest factors that led to the blowout win.

Curry’s Amanda Leal finished with 13 points.

Pine Manor’s Kristen Harris led the way for the Gators with 12 points, while two of her teammates, Arielle Harrell and Oceane Tabbak, ended the game with double-digit turnovers (12 and 10, respectively).

  • Neither team scored any fast-break points.
  • Pine Manor held a 1-point lead with 8:10 left in the first quarter. It was the Gators’ only lead of the night.
  • Curry had 23 more field goal attempts than Pine Manor.

Women’s Hoops Grab Win on Senior Night

BY JOHN CATALONI // Feb. 18, 2018 //

The Curry College women’s basketball team capped off their senior night with a 48-39 win over Eastern Nazarene in a low-scoring affair as both teams were jockeying for seeding position.

Curry took control of the game early when they received a huge lift from sophomore guard Samantha Bamford who came off the bench four minutes into the game. She had an instant impact by forcing turnovers and turning up the defensive pressure, adding four rebounds, four assists, and two steals in 29 minutes.

In addition to Bamford, junior guard Emily Irwin scored eight of her team-high 14 points in the first quarter to give the Colonels the 16-11 advantage at the end of the first.

The offense struggled in the second quarter as the team shot 4-of-14 from the field only managing 10 points but luckily their defense tightened up to hold the Lions to just four points, going up 11 at the half.

Adversity struck the Colonels late in the third when junior forward Molly Plunkett went down with an ankle injury that sidelines her for the fourth quarter, forcing reserves to step up.

Eastern Nazarene started the fourth on an 11-0 run, cutting the Colonels’ to just one.  Irwin derailed the run with a three of her own and the Lions wouldn’t score a point for the rest of the game.

For Curry it was a huge moment for both seniors Nicole Rice and Stephanie Rizzo who played their last home game for Curry on Saturday.

“It was a good way to finish my four years here,” said Rizzo who is usually a bench player but drew the start on her senior night.

Bamford, the usual starter, was happy to step into that bench role for her team on Saturday.

“There is no other way I’d want them to go out,” said Bamford. “They work really hard.”

Prior to the game the Colonels held a one game lead over both Eastern Nazarene and Gordon so it was crucial for Curry to secure the win and remain the sixth-seed in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) playoffs.

The Colonels will travel to third-seeded Endicott College on Tuesday for the first round of the tournament.  Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

  • Curry’s defense forced 25 turnovers while scoring 15 points off them en route to their win.
  • Eastern Nazarene’s Shelby Holmes scored a game high 17 points while earning a double-double.
  • The win officially secured the CCC scoring title for Irwin who led the conference with 18.2 points-per-game.

 

Women’s Hoops Drop Second Straight Game

BY MATT EVANS // Feb. 9, 2018 //

A poor shooting performance from the Colonels does them in on Thursday night as they fell to Western New England, 53-35.

The loss was the second straight for Curry, who remain securely in sixth place in the CCC.

From the tip, the Golden Bears led this one and didn’t relinquish the lead for the whole contest.  The Colonels could only muster five points for the entire first quarter.

Curry shot a measly 19.7% from the field on 61 shots while the Golden Bears were able to convert 39.6% of their 53 shots.   It didn’t help that Curry was out-rebounded 49-35 either.

The Golden Bears’ winning effort was led by Courtney Carlson who led the team with 18 points.

The loss didn’t come without positives for the Colonels, as they forced 20 turnovers on the night and scored a total of 16 points as a result of them.

Emily Irwin did everything she could to keep the home team in this one scoring 15 points and grabbing 7 boards but it wouldn’t be enough.

Molly Plunkett also pitched in with 13 points and 7 rebounds.

The Colonels will look to get back on track against conference leading Roger Williams University as they head to Bristol, Rhode Island on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tip-off.

Women’s basketball falls in opening round of CCC Tournament

BY COLE McNANNA // Feb. 22, 2017 //

The Colonels opened the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament with a drive to Springfield to face the third-seeded Western New England Golden Bears.

No. 6 Curry stole the lead with an early three-pointer but that would be the last time they held onto a lead. After the 7:52 mark, the Golden Bears maintained a lead and went on to take the opening-round matchup, 57-39.

The Colonels end the season with a 10-16 record overall and an 8-10 record in the CCC while WNE moves on to face No. 2 Roger Williams on Thursday.

After being named to the All-CCC First Team on Monday, sophomore Emily Irwin cemented that status by scoring a game-high 14 points while grabbing four rebounds and a game-best four steals. Classmate Molly Plunkett finished close behind with nine points, and along with Irwin looks to take control of this Curry squad for the next two winters.

Irwin finishes the season at the top of the scoring list for the conference, tied with WNE senior Emily Anderson for 16.1 points per game. Irwin also sits atop the steals leaderboard, with 4.4 steals per her 25 games.

The Colonels now have the entire off-season to think about the end of their season but will only lose one player to graduation. Douglas’ Amanda Gresian wore the Purple and White for her last time and we all thank her for all of her contributions over her career, and wish her the best post-college.

Head coach Fran Elms along with assistant Stacy Cotter are now tasked with the reformation of the team once everything shakes out with the additions and subtractions of his squad.

There will be more basketball played and until then, be on the lookout for our spring sports previews over the next couple of weeks.

Go Colonels.

 

Eastern Nazarene downs Women’s Basketball 65-35

BY TIM NOONAN // Feb. 19 2017 //

In their regular season finale, the Curry Colonels women’s basketball team hosted the Eastern Nazarene Lions and fell short 30 points.

Early on Curry was even with the Lions who were playing a tough man to man defense that gave the Colonels little breathing room. Despite this Curry was never behind more than single digits in the first half.

Sophomore Emily Irwin showed her slashing ability and converted multiple layups to pace Curry. At the end of the first quarter, Curry trailed Nazarene 14-9. However, the second quarter brought new life to the Colonels as freshman Paige Senatore drained a three from the corner to cut the deficit to 14-12.

Both teams traded buckets over the next few minutes but then on one of the nicer plays of the day, freshman Sam Bamford dropped a dime to Emily Irwin who put the ball off the glass for two more which made the lead 20-15 Nazarene. Emily Irwin fell hard and needed to be taken out of the game and freshman Erica Ulrich entered and calmly made two free throws to give the Colonels the edge 21-20. Irwin returned to the game again and converted an offensive rebound off of her own miss for two to give Curry the 25-20 lead at halftime.

The third quarter was a different story entirely. Eastern Nazarene looked more confident shooting the ball as Jacquelin Arretche converted a deep three-pointer which set the tone for the rest of the game. The lions outscored the Colonels 18-8 in the quarter.

As the fourth quarter began it was clear the Lions had more confidence and momentum as they made three out of four 3-point attempts and grabbed many offensive rebounds to dominate the time of possession. On the other end, the Colonels sloppy play led to turnover after turnover and Curry had no rhythm at all. Every loose ball ended up in the Lions hands who took advantage of the miscues. Nazarene outscored Curry 27-2 in the 4th quarter.

Nazarene was led in scoring by juniors Jaysa Cooper and Shelby Holmes who each had 14. The leading scorer for the Colonels was sophomore Emily Irwin with 19. Freshman point guard Sam Bamford showed a lot of hustle and grit as she stripped her opponent from behind on defense and dove on the floor for the loose ball before passing it to a teammate. Bamford’s quick hands and ability to get into the lane proved vital to the Colonels and caused problems for the Lions at times. She finished the contest with 4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals showing promise for the future.

Facing a largely negative vibe after the loss, Curry assistant coach Stacey Cotter gave her opinion. “We didn’t play defense, you can’t give up 65 points and win a game. The first half was fine, the second half we lost the game.”

 

As the last home game before the conference tournament, the Colonels commemorated their lone senior, Amanda Gresian, who has been a member of the Curry basketball program the past four years.

“It was very overwhelming because I was the only senior and I am going to miss the program,” says Gresian. “I miss all the girls but I’m glad that I stuck with it the four years and I’m glad that I played with the teammates I did.” Gresian contributed 2 points, 1 rebound and a steal in 13 minutes of playing time.

The Colonels will now shift their attention to the Commonwealth Coast Conference tournament. Gresian added, “It was a rough game today but we’re gonna take that game and push it towards Tuesday’s game, we’re gonna come out strong.”