QUINTIN JAMES
Special to The Leader
The Blue Devils women’s basketball team suffered their first loss of the season against the Nazareth Golden Flyers by a score of 59-43. The Blue Devils started off fast with an 11-2 start, as Nazareth missed their first 12 shots from the field. It looked like it was going to be a defensive battle as both teams couldn’t hit anything the whole game.
Nazareth’s Lindsay Kelly was a dominating force in the first half; she had eight points and five rebounds while also collecting an assist and a block. As the game wore on, the Blue Devils had no answers for her as she finished with a double-double, 17 points and 11 rebounds in 27 minutes of action.
The Blue Devils kept up with the Golden Flyers in the first half as a late bucket by Nazareth put them up by two heading into the half. Sabrina Macaulay led the Devils with six points and three rebounds; she tried to help the Devils stay in the game while guard Alexis Cheatham struggled in the first half, with three points and two assists on only 1-7 shooting and 0-4 from three.
When the second half clock started, it seems like the Blue Devils were late to the game because Nazareth went on a 12-0 run to start the second half. After that, the game was pretty much out of reach for the fighting Blue Devils. The Blue Devils only made five field goals in the second half and missed all five of their three point shots. Nazareth’s largest lead was with 7:23 left in the second half when the lead was at 22. The Blue Devils were led by Macaulay — who had 15 points and seven rebounds in 29 minutes — and Cheatham, who had eight points and five assists.
The Blue Devils started off strong, but in the end, they were outnumbered in many different key areas of the game. Fredonia didn’t make a three-pointer the entire game, going 0-11 from beyond the arc. Nazareth, on the other hand, made seven threes in the game, including four in the second half that really broke the game wide open. The Blue Devils only made 57 percent of their free throws while Nazareth shot 77 percent from the line. The main focus for the Blue Devils has to be rebounding has they were outrebounded by 8 and gave up 20 offensive rebounds that led to 16 second chance points.
The Blue Devils also gave up eight more points in the paint — buckets were too easy for the Golden Flyers in the second half, from inside 10 feet. Nazareth seemed like they were willing to do the dirty work inside and it showed. The Blue Devils also committed 20 turnovers that led to 15 points for Nazareth. Nazareth capitalized on Blue Devils turnovers for easy buckets, while the Devils were ice cold from the three point line. It showed as the offense broke down — it was a long half for Coach McDonald and her staff.
The Blue Devils looked to win their home opener against Medaille, who was starting off their season against the Devils. They started off strong, but just like their last game, came out slow in the second half and couldn’t make a bucket; they fell to the Mavericks 76-69. The Devils came out with a purpose as they held the lead for most of the first half. They held the Mavericks to only 33 percent shooting — it looked like the Devils were going to get it together in their home opener.
The Blue Devils were led in the first half by Katie Devine who had six points and six rebound and was a factor in the paint for the Devils. Alexis Cheatham also helped out the cause with a modest seven points and an assist. Sabrina Macaulay also had six points and six rebounds.
Mavericks were led in the first half by Kristine Dlugosz who had eight points and 10 rebounds in the first half alone. Alicia Montalvo also had eight points and three rebounds. The Mavericks were lucky to be down 4 at the half because they shot only 33 percent and committed 12 turnovers in the half. They would turn up their play in the second half and the Blue Devils were no match for them.
In the second half, the Mavericks shot 44 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc. A three from MarceAnn Dunning put the Mavericks up 50-47 with 9:33 left. They wouldn’t look bad as she had two threes in the half and a total of 12 points in the half in only nine minutes. She sparked the Mavericks off the bench and killed the Blue Devils every chance she got. On the other hand, the Blue Devils went ice cold in the second half. After shooting a below average 35 percent in the first half, they shot 26 percent in the second half as they tried to shoot more threes to get them back in the game.
They couldn’t stop the Mavericks and they lost 76-69. Macaulay recorded her second double-double of the year with 13 points and 14 rebounds while sophomore guard Alexis Cheatham scored 17 points and dished out five assists. The Mavericks were led by a trio of starters and a key reserve off the bench.
They were led by Kristie Dlugosz, who had 18 points and 15 rebounds. Morgan Howe had 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Alicia Montalvo had 12 points and eight rebounds. The key reserve had to be MarceAnn Dunning, as she had 15 points off the bench and 12 of those came in the second half.
Alexis Cheatham had 10 points and four assists in the second half and Sabrina Macaulay had eight points and seven rebounds in the second half, but they couldn’t stop the onslaught of the Mavericks offense in the second half. The Blue Devils were poised to win this game until they started missing everything in the second half. They controlled the tempo and got a lot of offensive rebounds that they converted into points. They also forced 22 turnovers but only scored nine points off those turnovers. They had a nice in-and-out style of play going on as they also had 36 points in the paint.