Author: Jack Ridenour
The women’s basketball team had a season that was filled with highs and lows all year long. The team finished the season with a 13-13 record overall, and a 7-11 conference record. The team had some big wins throughout their season, including a season sweep of Westminster College and a win against Waynesburg University at Waynesburg. The team had some tough losses against Thomas Moore College and St. Vincent College, two of the top teams in their conference.
The team had a tough loss against Bethany where they walked away with a 48-83 defeat at home. Down 39-25 at the half, the cougars were outscored by the bison 44-23 in the second half. The Cougars shot 37% from the field in the first half, but cooled off in the second shooting only 29% from the field. They were led by junior guard Megan Sieg and sophomore Katie Sieg with 13 points each.
Next up was an away match against Thiel College. The team needed this win to help with the seeding in the playoffs. The team started off on a high note, outscoring Thiel 29-23 heading into halftime. In the second half the Cougars offense was unstoppable in the second half, beating the Tomcats 38-31 in the second half, and ultimately winning 67-54. The Cougars were led again by Katie Sieg with 19 points and sophomore guard Natalie Knab also added 19 points to the win. Sieg also chipped in 13 rebounds and 4 steals.
In the first round of the playoffs, the Cougars would have to travel to Bethany again, to face the Bison in the first round of the playoffs. The Cougars needed to bounce back after the tough loss to the Bison a few weeks prior. The Cougars found themselves down early in the first half, trailing 25-30 going into halftime. In the second half the team came out hot, outscoring Bethany 49-31 and eventually defeating them 74-61.
“We really fed off the intensity of the crowd and each one of us played to our potential. It was a team effort to get the job done,” said freshman forward and business major Sierra Ungerman. With this win the team would then travel to St. Vincent for the quarterfinals of the tournament. St. Vincent opened the game with a 21-15 lead after the first quarter. The Cougars would find themselves down at halftime 26-39. The Bearcats would dominate the second half, and ultimately defeat the Cougars 82-64. Chatham was led by Natalie Knab and senior guard Dana Eastman who each had 12 points.
Although the team had a tough loss to finish the season, they also had a lot of positive points in the season that helped with their success. “We had a great team chemistry. Everyone knew each other’s strengths and would build off those strengths and know what we needed to do to be successful this season,” said sophomore forward and nursing major Maggie Soeder. The Cougars improved not only their overall team play, but also the on the court chemistry they had as the season went on. “We need to work on getting stronger, we had a lot of injuries this season so taking care of our bodies and getting in shape for next season will be crucial,” said Knab. “Also just working on our own individual skills will be a main focus this off season,” she went on to say. The team still has a lot to improve on in the offseason, but they do have a lot to be proud of after this season.