ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. - The Dickinson women's basketball team looked poised for a statement win in their season opener on Saturday against No. 18 Elizabethtown College as the Red and White held a 30-28 edge at the break. Unfortunately, the Blue Jays outscored the Devils 23-14 coming out of the break en route to picking up a 64-56 non-conference win at Thompson Gymnasium.
Things looked rough for DC early as pre-season All-American Summer McNulty along with Makenna Mummert and Cyleigh Wilson had the home side off to an 8-2 lead just three minutes in. A layup from
Mia Chapman halved the deficit to 8-4, but the trio of Danirae Renno, McNulty and Mummert recorded six straight to open it up to a ten-point cushion (14-4) at the halfway point of the frame. However, that woke up the DC offense as five points each by
Lindsey Hollenshead and
Clair Marion as well as a layup from
Victoria Zerbe capped a 12-2 outburst for the visitors drawing level at 16-16 with 90-seconds left. E'Town would score four of the final six points of the frame with
Caitlin Blackman providing a buzzer-beating jumper to leave the Red and White down 20-18 after one.
After the two sides went scoreless for the opening two minutes of the second, Dickinson went to work as a layup for
Jenna Weinstein was followed by buckets from Chapman, Marion and Zerbe to wrap up a 9-0 run to make it 27-20 Devils at the 5:01 mark of the quarter. Mummert then tallied four of the ensuing six for the Jays to close within 27-26, before a pair of Hollenshead foul shots left the score at 29-26. Two free throws for Renno and a single by Blackman finished up the scoring in the half giving Dickinson a 30-28 halftime advantage.
The teams traded the first eight points of the third as McNulty provided the offense for EC, while
Indatou Ali-Goukoye and Hollenshead hit the bottom of the net for the Devils to leave the score knotted up at 34 with 7:32 left. MuNulty continued her strong afternoon by accounting for six of the eleven points posted by the hosts during an 11-2 charge to grab a nine-point advantage (45-36). Layups by both Chapman and Weinstein along with a pair of Weinstein free throws let DC cut three points off the deficit trimming it to 48-42. A Blackman jumper with 17-seconds left in the period left the guests down 51-44 with 10-minutes to play.
An early jumper from Zerbe and three-ball out of the hands of Marion made it 53-49 Blue Jays with four minutes gone in the fourth. A three-point play by Jessica King along with four points for Mummert extended the margin to 60-51, but a pass from Blackman led to both a Zerbe bucket as well as a Marion triple giving the Devils life at 60-56 still with 2:25 left. Unfortunately, Dickinson missed their final five shots, while two free throws each for King and Wilson set the 64-56 final.
Red Devil Leaders
Points - Marion (16), Hollenshead (11), Chapman (8)
Assists - Blackman (5), Zerbe (2)
Rebounds - Chapman (8), Blackman, Hollenshead and Zerbe (6)
Blue Jay Leaders
Points - McNulty (18), Mummert and Wilson (14)
Assists - McNulty (5)
Rebounds - Renno (10), King (8)
Next on the Court
Dickinson (0-1) will have another chance to make a statement on Wednesday in their home opener when they welcome local foe and 25th-ranked Messiah University to the Kline Center for a 7pm tip.
