HAVERFORD, Pa. - Eastern Women's Basketball opened its 2021-2022 campaign with a 61-50 loss to the Haverford Fords on Monday evening. The Eagles struggled with turnovers in their season opener, turning the ball over 24 times which led to 20 Haverford points.
After the Fords built an early advantage in the game's opening minutes, a 7-0 run by the Eagles turned their three-point deficit into a four-point lead. Senior guard Brynn Schmidt started the run with back-to-back baskets, before fellow senior Jaelyn Harris knocked down a triple in the corner to make it a 10-6 advantage for Eastern. However, in the final five minutes of the opening quarter, Haverford outscored Eastern 15-6 to regain a lead it would not relinquish.
After turning the ball over seven times in the first quarter, the Eagles gave the ball up eight more times in the second, which allowed the Fords to build their lead to as many as 11. Despite the turnover issues, Eastern continued to battle, cutting the lead to six on baskets from graduate transfer Ashya Gaddy and first-year center Taryn Woodson in the final two minutes of the first half.
The Eagles cut the Haverford lead to four on three occasions in the third quarter, but the Fords had an answer for each Eastern push. Freshman guard Camila Sosa's first collegiate basket cut the Eastern deficit to 42-38 with five minutes to play in the period, but the Fords would embark on a 13-0 run over the following 9:24 of game action to put the game out of reach.
A Gaddy basket in the paint helped to trim the Haverford lead to seven with 2:29 remaining, but the Eagles were unable to get any closer. For the contest, Eastern shot 19-of-52 from the floor (36.5 percent) and just 10-of-32 after halftime.
"The turnovers killed us," Eastern Head Coach Eric Houston said. "If we cut down on those, we probably would have won the ball game. But this is a young team, and they will only get better with time."
In her Eastern debut, Gaddy put together a strong showing for the Eagles, scoring a team-leading 18 points on eight-of-15 shooting from the field to go along with six rebounds. Woodson also played well in her first collegiate game, collecting eight points and a team-high 14 rebounds, while Schmidt recorded eight points off the bench. Sophomore Mikayla Wright added seven points and 10 boards.
Eastern will be back in action on Wednesday night to take on Cabrini in another installment of the Eagle Road rivalry. Tip-off is set for 7:00 pm.
