ST. DAVIDS, Pa. - A sluggish start and struggles on the offensive end proved to be the difference on Saturday afternoon, as Eastern Women's Basketball dropped its seventh straight contest in a 46-38 loss to Stevenson at the NEST. The Eagles missed their first nine shots from the field, and shot just 26.3 percent for the contest (15-of-57). Additionally, Eastern turned the ball over 26 times, as the Mustangs collected 17 steals and scored 12 points off of those giveaways.
On a tough shooting afternoon, Eastern first-year center Taryn Woodson put together another strong performance, collecting her 11th double-double of the season with 10 points on five-of-12 from the floor to go along with 13 rebounds. Since December 18, the Harrisburg, Pa. native has recorded nine double-doubles in Eastern's last 13 contests. Camila Sosa scored nine points, including a pair of triples, while Ashya Gaddy finished with eight points off the bench. Brynn Schmidt rounded out Eastern's top scorers with seven points and 10 boards.
The first quarter was a struggle for both teams, who combined to score just 10 points in the opening 10 minutes. Stevenson scored the first eight, and held the Eagles off the scoreboard until Gaddy hit a layup at the 1:30 mark. The Eagles hit just one of their 12 shot attempts in the frame.
Points remained hard to come by in the second quarter, but the Eagles were able to cut into their deficit, making it 16-12 on a layup from Woodson with 2:06 to play in the first half. However, the Mustangs answered with a triple, making it 19-12, and another three at the buzzer gave the visitors at 23-14 advantage at the halftime break.
Trailing by as many as 13 in the third quarter, the Eagles came roaring back, using a 10-2 run, which included six points from Sosa, to trim the Stevenson lead to four once again. But the Mustangs held the Eagles off, scoring three points to end the frame and take a 36-29 lead. The Eagles never got closer than five points the rest of the way.
Eastern Women's Basketball will be back in action this coming Wednesday, Feb. 9, wrapping up its season series with Albright. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 pm.
