STAUNTON, Va.--Despite scoring a season-high 71 points, the Hood
College women's basketball team came up short to the Mary Baldwin
College Squirrels, 81-71, in an Atlantic Women's Colleges
Conference game Wednesday evening at the Physical Activities
Center.
Four Blazers netted double figures and Hood (3-15, 2-4 AWCC)
buried a season-high 12 three-pointers but the Squirrels (6-12, 3-2
AWCC) built a double-figure advantage early on and never
relinquished their lead to earn a season split with the Blazers.
Jessica Carter and Jennifer Hobson combined for the home team's
first 12 points as Baldwin surged to a 12-2 lead in the first 3:11.
The Squirrels led by as many as 16 midway through the stanza, but
the Blazers used a 13-3 run to slice the deficit to six points.
Hood received back-to-back three-pointers by Sara Wastler and
Brianna Raithel to close to within 29-23 with 3:29 left before
halftime. The margin remained at six heading into the locker room
(33-27).
Hood hung with the Squirrels in the second half but never
overtook Baldwin despite shooting 53.3 percent from the floor in
the final 20 minutes. The Blazers were plagued by foul trouble in
the second half; after committing just five fouls in the first
half, Hood was whistled for infractions 15 times in the second
half, leading to 26 trips to the foul line for Baldwin. The
Squirrels connected on 23 of those attempts from the charity stripe
to keep the Blazers at bay.
Senior Dana Shook matched her season-high with 20 points,
including a season-best six triples, to go along with four
rebounds. Wastler hit 4-of-7 from long range for 14 points while
logging 39 minutes. Freshman Sara Hartlaub registered 12 points and
hauled in six rebounds before fouling out, and sophomore Whitney
Schultheis netted 10 points and picked off five steals.
Carter, the AWCC's leading scorer, scored a game-high 28 points,
including a perfect 10-of-10 from the foul line.
The Blazers return to action Tuesday hosting the College of
Notre Dame at Gambrill Gymnasium. Tip is set for 7 p.m.
