GEORGETOWN, Texas — A disastrous second quarter put the young Southwestern Pirates women's basketball team at a deficit from which it could never recover, dropping its second consecutive game to the Schreiner Mountaineers by a score of 71-53.
Southwestern shot just 3-for-12 (25 percent) in the second quarter, compounding their cold shooting with 7 turnovers, including 5 steals. The Mountaineers took full advantage, hitting 7-for-15 (46.7 percent), including 3-for-4 from long range to outscore the Pirates by 16 in the quarter and take a 38-23 lead into the half.
Though Southwestern hit a higher percentage of their shots from the field, shooting 40 percent to Schreiner's 33.3 percent, the Pirates turned the ball over 30 times, leading to 27 Mountaineers' points.
Basketball is often a game of rhythm and timing, and the Pirates, integrating eight new players into their rotation, were off in both regards through the opening weekend of play.
It was as if the internal clocks for each player were set just a beat too fast, lifting pivot feet before putting the ball on the floor for turnovers or hurrying through a shot instead of taking the time to find some balance for a better look.
This created problems in the offense as the choreography of off-ball screens, curls, and ball reversals were just out of sync. Bodies moved too early at times, gumming up the works. Other times, passes arrived too late, allowing the defense to recover.
Given the limited time the team has had together to install and test a new offense under duress, it's understandable the seams of it were visible to all. Players leaned too heavily on the script of each play, missing improvisational opportunities gifted by the defense.
On the other end, inexperience showed with sound positional defense giving way to reaches, giving way to fouls. Southwestern surrendered 32 free-throw attempts, of which Schreiner hit 27.
Southwestern did find some positives in the second game, finding some moments in the pick-and-roll with Noel Pratts or Lauren Fulenwider getting free off some jarring screens set by Princess Roberts. Roberts was a spark off the bench, scoring 7 points on 3-for-5 shooting with 6 rebounds.
Fulenwider led the Pirates in scoring again with 13 points, and Pratts also reached double figures with 10 points and 5 assists. Senior forward Erin Toro found gaps in the middle of the defense and even stepped outside for a corner 3-pointer, scoring 9 points on 5 shots. First-year point guard Emily Edwards contributed on defense with 5 rebounds and 3 steals.
Point guard Zahra Cross paced Schreiner with 23 points, 5 steals, and 3 assists, getting to the free-throw line for 14 attempts, hitting 13.
Southwestern dropped to 0-2 on the season and travel next weekend for a two-game series against preseason favorite Austin College.
