Women's Basketball News

HAWKS SURVIVE SECOND HALF COMEBACK TO DEFEAT HARFORD 63-54

February 2, 2007 - Leading by as much 22 points in the second half, the CSM women's basketball team survived a late charge by Harford, who cut the Hawk lead to five, 55-50, with 2:40 to play, before hitting eight free throws down the stretch to pull out a 63-54 win. 

     It was a game of contrasting styles, as the Hawks looked to play up tempo, force turnovers, and fastbreak whenever they could.  Harford, on the other hand, wanted to slow the tempo down, run a set offense and try and get the ball inside to one of their post players. 

     Both teams were successful at times.  Early in the game, CSM was able to dictate the tempo with their pressure defense and raced to a 19-5 lead with 12:42 to play in the first half. 

     Midway through the first half, Harford was able to slow the tempo down, and as the Hawks struggled against Harford's zone defense, the Owls closed the gap to 19-14 with 8:19 to play.

     The Hawks were able to swing the tempo once again, and surged back ahead 36-20 at the half, capped by Christine Johnson's NBA range 3 pointer at the buzzer.

     In the second half CSM (10-10, 4-6) continued to force turn-overs and score on fastbreaks, taking their biggest lead of the game, 51-29 with 12:41 left in the game.

     Harford (11-11) slowly inched their way back into the game, as the Hawks shooting turned colder then the frosty February air.  With 6:08 left to play, Katie Kidd fouled out, depriving the Hawks of their second leading rebounder. 

      Denita Hill hit a three pointer and scored on a drive to the basket for Harford to cut the Hawks lead to 55-50 with 2:40 left to play.  However the Hawks came up big on the free throw line, and Brittany Vines grabbed  some key rebounds, as the Hawks were able to secure the victory.

     With the Hawks ahead 57-52, Chris Valez hit both ends of a one and one to boost the margin to 59-52.  After Denita Hill scored to cut the Hawk lead to 59-54, Christine Johnson converted another one and one to give CSM some breathing room at 61-54 with :26.5 seconds left.

     Shannon Wilson (13 pts.) fouled out with :18.1 left, forcing CSM to play four against five, but Brittany Vines made a key steal of Harford's inbounds pass to help secure the victory.

     Christine Johnson led a balanced Hawk attack with 14 points, Shannon Wilson and Brittany Vines each had 13 pts., and Tanya Sites and Chris Valez each added 10 pts.

     Qourtnee Long led Harford with 28 points, most of them in the paint, and Denita Hill had 16 points for the Owls.

     CSM will conclude the regular season with three home games next week, hosting Christendom Monday at 7:00 PM, Philadelphia Community College Wednesday at 7:00 PM, and Frederick on Friday, February 9 at 5:00 PM.