The AU women’s basketball team won its season opener against the Lady Hawks of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Bender Arena with a final score of 76-69 on Nov. 12.
The game was an impressive start for the Eagles and the first victory for first-year head coach Megan Gebbia.
Coming off two exhibition games, Gebbia said the team has made significant improvements in shot selection and team efficiency.
Although the Eagles (1-0, 0-0 PL) were up by double digits at certain points in the game, the Lady Hawks (0-2, 0-0 ME) kept the game competitive, pulling within six points late in the game.
Both teams came ready to play from opening tip. At first, it was a tight game with neither team able to gain an advantage. But near the end of the half, AU started to pull away with back-to-back three-pointers by senior guard Ti’Asia McGeorge and senior guard Alexis Dobbs, respectively. The first half ended with AU leading 38-27.
“My teammates get me the ball when I’m open and I get them the ball when they are open,” Dobbs said. “So, it’s just a matter of whose open and who has the hot hand. I think we did a good job sharing the ball. We got a lot of open perimeter shots, especially in the second half, that we really capitalized on.”
At the beginning the second half, the Eagles went on a scoring-spree, besting the Lady Hawks on a 12-6 run.
The Hawks regained their composure to make the game competitive. Leading this effort was junior guard Jessica Long, who took good shots and found open players to convert opportunities. She finished the game with 28 points and a team high four assists.
The Hawks got within 10 points of the Eagles midway through the second half, but a critical three-pointer by freshman forward Lauren Crisler secured the game for the the Eagles.
Dobbs played a big role in the AU victory as she finished the game with 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
In addition to a strong performance from Dobbs, Crisler and junior forward Arron Zimmerman both scored 11 points and Crisler also contributed five rebounds. Junior guard Jen Dumiak also made a meaningful impact with 10 rebounds, eight points and eight assists. In total, four AU players scored in double digits.
The Eagles will hope to build on in their next game against the University of Massachusetts in Bender Arena on Nov. 17.
