CLAREMONT – A second quarter without a point scored for the Cardinals put them in a tough position to bounce back from, as they fell to ConVal 41-26 on Friday night at Carr Gym.
ConVal’s 1000-point scorer Lindsey Carey showed why she is being looked at by multiple colleges as she led the way with 21 points, looking unstoppable at points.
The Cardinals opened the game with an aggressive first quarter as Jenna Pond’s 5 points and Sydney Miller’s bucket had the visiting Cougars on edge.
“They opened the game with a strong, determined style of play that we needed to adjust to,” said ConVal coach Kevin Proctor after the game.
The Cardinals’ Miller and the Cougars’ Katie Carey were toe-to-toe on multiple plays, so much so that they were spoken to from one of the referees. That settled down drastically when Miller picked up her third foul midway into the second quarter as the Cougars began to open up the game.
With Zahna Rice headed to the trainer’s table with an ankle injury, Stevens couldn’t seem to find any second chances on their end of the court. ConVal found their tempo and started running the floor and trapping on the defensive end, holding Stevens scoreless in the second frame. By the end of the half, ConVal had taken the lead, 21-7, and extended that lead to 27-7 into the third quarter.
Stevens’ Nicole Salls finally broke the drought midway into the third quarter with a free throw. Her play was just what the Cardinals needed as her energy brought some life to the Stevens offense.
“Nicole stepped up when we needed a lift and when she dove to the floor for a loose ball, I think everyone fed off of that,” said Stevens head coach Ivy Condon after the game.
Points were hard to come by for Stevens as they had scored only 14 points after 24 minutes of play.
“Our goal was to shut down Miller as best as we could and keep them under 30 points tonight,” said coach Proctor. “We watched tape on them and it seemed that Katie Carey would be the perfect match-up to throw at Miller.”
That game plan worked well as the Cardinals shots were there but just not finding the net, with most of the attempts coming from outside the paint.
Stevens outscored ConVal 12-10 over the final 8 minutes but will fall to 3-12 with Friday’s loss.
Ivy Condon’s Cardinals have had four losses this year in games decided by five points or less, as the transition to D-II has been a challenge.
Miller led Stevens with 11 points while Ellee Grenier, Salls and Pond all finished with 5 points.
Stevens will travel to Newport Monday night to face the 5-9 D-III Tigers who are still in the playoff picture. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
In JV action, Jenna Bonneau led Stevens to a 27-22 win as Nicole Salls added 6 points during the win.
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.