Women's Basketball
November 1, 2009 Recap
The Wildcats opened the season with a 59-48 win over Laurentian University from Sudbury, Ontario. Neither team got much going offensively in the first half. There were six lead changes and Laurentian held a 26-17 lead with 2:00 left but back-to-back jumpers by Megan Morrell cut the lead to four (26-23) at the half. The wildcats continued to struggle to start the second half and trailed 36-26 with 16:45 left but Marybeth Nugent caught fire and led Daemen back. Nugent had 11 (including three 3-pointers) of Daemen's 17 points in a 17-9 run that brought the Wildcats within two (45-43) with 11:09 left. Bridgette Burke's three-pointer with 8:27 left gave Daemen their first lead since they led 19-18 with 5:23 left in the first half. The Wildcats held Laurentian to only two points the rest of the way and gradually built the lead to the 59-48 final.
Nugent led all scorers with 20 points including 5-10 from three-point range. She also had four assists and four steals. Bridgette Burke added 12 points, eight rebounds, and five steals. Sarah Soroka also was in double figures with 10 points and added eight rebounds. Ellie Allen led Daemen in assists with five. Megan Morrell led the Wildcats in rebounds with nine. Laurentian was led by Lisa Furcher (16 points) and Katie Goggins (12 points). Darrah Bumstead pulled down 13 rebounds.
Both teams struggled from the field. Daemen shot 31.7% (20-63) while Laurentian hit 16-62 for 25.8%. The Wildcats hit only 4-17 from three-point range in the first half but came back making 5-11 during the second half. Daemen hit 10-13 from the free throw line, Laurentian was 14-29. Laurentian held a 51-48 advantage off the boards.
Daemen travels to St. Francis University in Fort Wayne, Indiana for a tournament next weekend.
