The comforts of home at the Connolly Center paid dividends for the Seattle University women's basketball team, as they defeated Longwood University 60-51 Thursday evening. The pieces fell into place for the Redhawks, who worked relentlessly all game to earn their fourth victory of the season and to snap a forgettable eight game skid.
"When you win it makes the locker room and everyone happier," first season head coach Joan Bonvicini remarked. "I'm just proud of the team. This is a process and it is going to be hard, especially this year, the first year [of Division I], and with players down, but we need to keep plugging away. When you work hard good things are going to happen."
Good things did happen all game for SeattleU, as a tactile, aggressive and sound squad was on the floor for the full 40 minutes. Brown (Kirkland, Wash.) had an outstanding game, going 9-for-18 from the field, including four three-pointers, to score a team-leading 22 points. The veteran forward missed tying her current career-high by two points. This season she has scored in double-figures in 15 of the 20 games she has seen minutes in. Brown also added seven total boards, including six defensive rebounds, and tallied a pair of assists and steals in 35 minutes of play.
"I thought we came out really aggressive and Ashley played one of her best games, if not her best game this season," said Bonvicini. "Not because of points, but she did some things we hadn't seen her do in a while, that's attack the basket off a drive, post up a little bit and show different parts of her game."
The Redhawks came out of the gate ignited and ready to play. Fourteen seconds into action Maggie McCarthy (Burlingame, Calif.) opened up the game with a two-point jumper. After denying Longwood on their first possession, Brown followed by knocking in back-to-back three's to prevent the Lancers from getting on the board for the first minute-and-a-half of action. After LU's Brittanni Billips scored their first points of the contest, Tatiana Heck (Mountlake Terrace, Wash.) responded with her first two points of the game off a Brown pass to the low post.
The Redhawks opened up the game with composure and forced the Lancers to play their style of ball. Senior Brown was instrumental in SeattleU's initial 11-2 run, as she tallied three consecutive beyond the arc baskets to lead SU early.
Down early by double-figures, Longwood began playing a tight man-on-man defense. Despite losing their initial rhythm by LU's man play, the Redhawk's hesitation was only momentary. SU regained their bearings and continued to press forward. They took their lead into double-digits for the first time at the 13:03 mark off a basket from Elle Kerfoot (Surrey, B.C.)
At 9:19, McCarthy passed in a perfect fast break pass in traffic to Heck to extend the Redhawk's lead to 27-13. The Lancers' Krystal Garrison countered, scoring a three as the shot clock hit one second, which triggered an 8-2 Longwood run to chop down SeattleU's once double-digit lead to eight.
Heck ended the visitor's scoring run, as she added a jumper to regain the Redhawks double-figure lead. Senior Cassidy Murillo (Yakima, Wash.) followed nearly a minute-and-a-half later by converting her bonus free throw shots to give SU a 33-21 lead at 3:36. With just over a minute remaining, Kerfoot drained her only three of the game, and to conclude the first half Heck knocked in a behind the back layup to send SU into halftime with a 38-23 lead.
Opening second half action was Longwood's Chelsea Coward, who drove in a lane shot to cut SU's lead to 13. The Lancer's continued on an 8-0 run to reduce the Redhawks' formerly double-digit lead to nine, by denying SU's first six attempts to open up the final half of play.
After struggling to get their offense going in the second half, Murillo finally got SU on the board with a three at 15:16 and Samantha Messersmith (Herald, Calif.) followed with beyond the arc basket of her own. Brown added a 12 foot jumper to reestablish SU's double-figure lead and Messersmith made it a 49-35 game with her second straight three-pointer.
Up by 11 points and with 11:22 left in regulation, LU began to play very aggressive defense on the Redhawks. They double teamed all players with the ball and held a tight man-on-man position on SeattleU. Their efforts paid off, as they forced consecutive jump balls on SU and were able to score back-to-back baskets to bring the game within seven. Down 49-42, the score was the closest it had been since early in the first half.
At the 10 minute mark, Brown drained in a much need three to rejuvenate the Redhawk offense and to give them a 10-point insurance lead. Kerfoot made it an 11 point game for the eighth time, after making one of her free throw attempts.
The score remained at a standstill for nearly two minutes until Kourtney Parks (Bend, Ore.) made a free throw and followed that with a defensive rebound. Following Parks' basket, Heck pushed her way through traffic to score her sixth basket of the game.
The Redhawk center scored 12 points and added seven rebounds, including six defensive boards, in the game. The junior was a strong force at the post for SU, as she worked all game to maintain her presence in the key.
The Lancers cut down SeattleU's lead to nine with just under two minutes to play, but Murillo countered with a five footer to solidify SU's fourth victory at home this season. With the basket she scored 10 points on the day, to round out the Redhawk's trifecta of double-digit scorers. She also had a team-leading eight boards and five rebounds.
Despite allowing Longwood to cut their lead to seven points twice in the second half, the key in establishing their holistic composure was their ability to maintain and continually regain possession of the ball. They were able to maneuver it around the court with ease and followed through on their shots to give them second chances. Additionally, they preserved their victory by outrebounding LU 48-33. The Redhawks had 18 offensive boards to the Lancers 10, which was critical in materializing 19 second chance points.
Bonvicini and the Redhawks (4-18) will not enjoy the comforts for home long, as they head to Cal State Fullerton for a contest on Wednesday, Jan. 27. Game time is set for 7 p.m. PT. in Fullerton, Calif. The game will mark the fourth contest on the road in a six-game span during the month of January for SeattleU.