It’s been a bit of a slog for Pitt State women’s basketball as they reach the end of the regular season. After a blistering hot 18-5 start for the Gorillas, they have lost five straight games to close out the season. The Gorillas obviously were looking for a better end to their season but dropped both games this week on the road.
“We knew both those games were going to be tough, they are both playing well. Central Missouri is playing really well, and we had a player out with a concussion, so we’ve been going through some adversity, but at the end of the day I thought our kids competed,” head coach Amanda Davied said.
Pitt State began their week on a Wednesday night, when they traveled to face the Washburn Ichabods. It was a close game after two quarters, with the Gorillas holding a solid 35-19 lead into the locker room at half. The Gorillas downfall would come in the third quarter, as they scored just two points to the Ichabods 22. Pitt State would get their feet back in the fourth, but it would be too late to overcome the deficit as they lost 56-71.
For the Gorillas, sophomore Clara Swearingen led the team with 11 points as freshman Marin Adams and junior Ja’Miya Brown both finished with 10 points. Brown, senior Harper Schreiner, freshman Kaycee McCumber, and freshman Cambrie Phillips tied for the team lead with four rebounds. As a team, Pitt State shot .500 from behind the arc (9-of-18) but .327 from the field and .684 from the free throw line.
“We were ahead six, I thought we played an outstanding first half, pretty good defense. They made a couple of adjustments second half, and the time it took us to adjust was the full third quarter, and then we were right back to it,” Coach Davied said.
The Gorillas then took to the road for a second time, as they traveled to play regular season MIAA champions Central Missouri. Pitt State would find itself behind 24-15 after the first quarter, and never could claw their way back into the game, getting outscored in every quarter except for the final one, in which they only outscored the Jennies by one point. Phillips paced the Gorillas with 13 points off the bench, while Adams added 12 points. Junior Marie Wembadjonga chipped in with seven points and eight rebounds.
Pitt State will look to fix their season when they travel to Kansas City to compete against Washburn again, this time in the MIAA tournament. It will give Pitt State an opportunity for redemption after the loss this past week. If the Gorillas wish to make the NCAA Division II Central Regional tournament, they will need to perform well at the MIAA tournament.
“It looks like Washburn and Central Missouri will probably play us in the regional tournament, so these will be two games for us to be a lot for us to keep climbing. Make it a twenty-win season, make it into the national tournament, play basketball in March Madness,” Davied said.