[metaslider id=8049]
COLIN HART
Special to The Leader
The women’s basketball team began this season on absolute fire, boasting an 11-1 record at one point. A recent slump, however, saw the Blue Devils drop four out of five games. But after Saturday night’s blowout victory over rival Buffalo State in Steele Hall, it’s safe to say that the Blue Devils are back on track.
The Blue Devils shot the lights out, hitting 51 percent of their shots on the night, and easily handled the visiting Bengals en route to an 81-60 victory. The win brings them to 14-5 overall and 9-4 in the conference. Senior guard Alexis Cheatham led the way with 21 points, while also splashing in five three-pointers. She also had five three-pointers in Fredonia’s previous game, a key overtime win against Brockport.
As a team, the Blue Devils hit a total of 10 threes against Buffalo State, making it the second game in a row that they’ve reached that mark. Their hot perimeter shooting wasn’t the only thing that ultimately doomed their conference rivals. The Blue Devils outplayed the Bengals in all facets of the game: winning the rebounding battle, consistently getting to the free throw line, forcing turnovers and passing up good shots for great shots.
The Blue Devils opened the game on a 9-2 run, but Buffalo State wouldn’t go away quietly as Fredonia led by only four after the first quarter. Buffalo State wouldn’t hang around for long, though, as Fredonia’s advantage ballooned to sixteen after the third quarter, with Cheatham and senior Jamie Curry each hitting a pair of threes in the period. After that, it was smooth sailing.
A balanced scoring effort and a focus on rebounding was key for the Blue Devils. Sophomore forward Jenna Einink and senior guard Khee Nance had 13 points and 10 points, respectively. Senior forward Kathryn Halloran contributed with eight rebounds.
“We controlled their inside game and we outrebounded them,” said assistant coach Rich Norton. “Buff State is the leading rebounding team in the conference, so we did a good job on their bigs inside.”
“I think we need to just focus on ourselves and what we do best,” said Cheatham, regarding the team’s recent losses. “I thought we were too caught up with what the other teams were doing and we lost track of what we do best.” She acknowledged that they must take things one game at a time.
Sometimes a midseason slump can derail a team. The Blue Devils have responded with two straight wins and this is exactly what Norton wants to see.
“It just shows how tough this conference is. You can’t take anyone for granted. It was a good wake-up call for us and we know we have enough time left in the conference to push ourselves and get the highest seeding possible. But we just have to take it one game at a time,” he said.
The women’s basketball team opens up February with back-to-back road games against New Paltz and Oneonta, a chance to exact some revenge against teams that beat the Blue Devils at home a couple weeks ago.