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Hilltop Views
The Student News Site of St. Edward's University

Hilltop Views
The Student News Site of St. Edward's University

Hilltop Views

Scoring troubles continue in fourth game of women’s club basketball

Hailey Womack, News Editor • October 30, 2024
Daniel Mendoza / Hilltop Views
Sydney Carrigans holds the ball and looks upcourt while the team breaks NVC’s full court press. NVC’s head coach, pictured right of Carrigan, kept affirming his team to keep up the press throughout the game.

The women’s club basketball team faced off against Northwest Vista College (NVC) on Oct. 23. There was a definite advantage for NVC, as their bench was essentially triple the amount of players as SEU, which has seven players.

The Hilltoppers started strong with a three from Jennifer Arroyo. President Jada Rae then committed a shooting foul, which NVC converted to extend their lead to 5-3. Arroyo answered back with another crisp three pointer, and Vice President Agatha Ais hit a reverse layup under the basket to regain the lead at 8-7. NVC ran a full court press for the entirety of the first half, leading to multiple steals and points for the team. At the end of the first quarter, SEU was trailing 23-8.

Ais hit a mid range shot to start the second quarter, then got a defensive steal the next play. She went up for another score but was fouled and hit the ground. She later made a layup, bringing the score to 31-14. SEU wasn’t able to score again until Ais was fouled, and she drained both shots to get up to 35-16. Before the halftime buzzer, Hilltoppers stole the ball, but couldn’t get down the court fast enough against the ticking clock to score.

Agatha Ais goes up for a layup attempt under the basket. After the game, she spoke about what the team will do over their gap between games to face their next opponent. “We are going to focus on screen and roll, and we’re going to focus on if you get the pass, do you just stand around?” Ais said. “Do you lean into your defender, what do you do? We’re going to work more on conditioning, ‘cause we have few (girls) so we gotta be able to play all 40 minutes, and not get tired. That’s what we’re going to work on, conditioning, full press, shots and driving in and not getting scared.” (Daniel Mendoza / Hilltop Views)

After halftime ended, Arroyo had a hard fought layup under the basket that resulted in the first, and only, points of the quarter. Ais, however, continued hauling in rebounds and making plays under the basket – SEU just couldn’t get any shot attempts to fall. The final score of the quarter once again extended NVC’s lead – a whopping 54 points to SEU’s 18.

In the final quarter, NVC stopped running their full court press, most likely due to the Hilltoppers breaking the press multiple times and outrunning their opponents. Ais hit a fadeaway jumper at the baseline – causing the crowd to “ooo” at her Dirk Nowitzki-like moves. She was later fouled on a layup, but missed the free throw for the and-one opportunity. NVC, however, had threes falling from what felt like everywhere behind the arc. Towards the end of the quarter, Ais hit another baseline shot, and Rae had a layup. Rae was then fouled on a shot attempt, but missed both free throws. For the final points of the game, Ais stole the ball for a layup. Later, she stole it again, but ran out of time before being able to shoot. NVS won the game with a final score of 71-26.

After the game, Rae stated that Ais was hands-down “player of the game.” She had 14 of St. Edward’s total 26 points.

“Going into (the game) we had a clear disadvantage of six girls to 15 girls, and coming from my point of view, I was shaking. I was literally cold, and I was like ‘I’m not going to play’,” Ais said. “I was so scared. But when that first quarter came in, I was like, ‘I could do this.’ Second quarter, I was doubting myself. Third quarter, we didn’t score (that) many points, but that was good. Then, in the fourth quarter, I was like ‘ride or die, let me do it. It won’t happen if I don’t do it.’ My team did really good. We haven’t played a press game, and we were pressed for the first time and we stepped up to the role. I love that about them — we adjusted, we moved in and we did the best we could.”

Ais stated that the team will be focused on conditioning and breaking full court press plays ahead of their next game.

The team will travel today, Oct. 30, to face San Antonio College. Stay updated on their Instagram, @seuwcbasketball.

 

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About the Contributor
Hailey Womack
Hailey Womack, News Editor
Hailey Womack is a junior English major with a minor in Journalism & Digital Media. This is her third semester with Hilltop Views and her first year as News Editor. She's very passionate about the Austin area, as she has been a native all of her life. When not reading romantic period books, she enjoys playing basketball.