Lady Warriors Come Up Short to Drew
Three-Pointers, Overall Shooting Prove Difference
Box score

WILLIAMSPORT , Pa. --- Both rims seemed to be sealed shut for the first six minutes of the contest as Drew University managed to dislodge its lid enough to defeat the Lycoming women’s basketball team 51-40 on Saturday afternoon.  The Warriors fall to 4-15, 1-9 in Freedom Conference play while the Rangers move to 10-10, 5-5 in league play.

It looked as if it would be a long day in the early going as neither team notched a bucket until Lycoming sophomore Michelle Wisla ( Schwenksville , Pa. / Perkiomen Valley ) connected on a jumper with 14:02 on the clock.  The make opened the floodgates for one Drew player as Courtney Cunningham canned five three-pointers and shot an overall 11-of-22 from the field in registering a game-best 29 points.  She added 10 rebounds to her stat line as one of three Rangers with double-figure board totals.

Shooting in the first half was minimal for both teams as neither managed to reach the 25.0 percent mark.  Drew made 10-of-42 shots for 23.8 percent, but the Warriors converted only 6of-32 attempts for 18.8 percent.

Freshman Andrea Cooper ( Hollidaysburg , Pa. /Hollidaysburg) dropped in 11 points to lead the Warriors, although she did it on 3-for-13 shooting.  She added eight rebounds and four blocked shots to the effort.  Senior Danielle Kern ( Lehman , Pa. /Lake-Lehman) put up another double-digit rebounding display with 14 boards.

Ann Mularz backed Cunningham with eight points for the Ranger offense.  Post Laura Methvin added a team-high 11 rebounds while Melissa Kraft pulled down 10 boards to go along with seven assists.

Down six coming out the intermission, the Warriors slowly worked themselves even with the Rangers.  Wisla knocked down a jumper and tough lay-up before freshman Lauren Carey (Old Forge, Pa. /Old Forge) tied the score at 29-29 with a jumper at the 14:13 mark.

Senior Amy Kile ( Muncy , Pa. /Muncy) gave the Warriors their first lead since 4-0 with a lay-up at the 11:28 mark to give Lycoming a 33-31 edge.

The advantage was short-lived as Cunningham immediately regained the lead for Drew with a long three-pointer.  Kraft followed with a trey of her own before Cunningham made it three triples in a row for a 41-33 Ranger lead.

Cooper retaliated with a long-distance jumper to cut the Warriors’ deficit to 41-36 with 7:53 to play.  Lycoming went to a full-court press to try to force the Rangers’ hands, but Drew made their way through it for some easy buckets down the stretch.

The Lady Warriors look to get back on the winning track on Monday, February 6, as Lycoming travels to Keystone College for a non-conference match up.  Game time is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.