The Stevenson University women’s basketball team grabbed a 76-51 win against Hood College on Feb. 8, and a 72-34 win against Alvernia University on Feb. 14, as the Mustangs continue to hold their spot at No. 3 in the MAC Commonwealth conference. The team is now 16-8 overall and 11-4 in the conference.
The Alvernia game started with a 5-0 Stevenson lead over the Crusaders; the Mustangs ended the first quarter 13-2 and had a 20-point advantage at the end of the first half. Stevenson continued to play aggressively and held a 57-11 lead at the end of the third quarter. Although the Crusaders fought to decrease the lead during the fourth quarter, they were unable to catch up, however, as the Mustangs stayed in control with a 72-34 victory.
The Hood game started with a Stevenson 13-0 run as the Mustangs ended the first quarter 19-6 and had a 21-point lead at the end of the first half. Though the Blazers made some strides in the second half, they were unable to close the gap. The 76-51 victory for Stevenson was nearly the same as the Mustangs’ 73-49 victory over Hood in January.
“It was an exciting game with a lot of momentum going into playoffs,” said sophomore guard Jonyae Curry, who had 7 points and 3 rebounds on the night.
During the game, senior Sara Tarbert became the 19th player in the NCAA Division III history to gain 2,000 career points. In the Mustangs’ previous game against Widener on Feb. 4, Tarbert’s 1,000 career rebounds made her the program’s all-time leader in rebounds; she is currently tied for second all-time in NCAA Division III history for consecutive double-doubles with Gallaudet’s Rondo Jo Miller.
“With one conference game left, [the team] is looking forward to finishing it off strong and to a fun playoff run,” said coach Jackie Boswell.
With time off before their next game, Boswell planned to use that practice time to fine tune some things and “focus on being the best team that we can be.”
Curry said she has a goal to keep contributing where she can, whether it be defensively or offensively, and she wants to win the MAC championship, one of the team’s goals as well.
“It’s getting so close, I think we can feel it. I feel from our coaching staff all the way down to our players, we can win this thing and are just waiting to see how it ends,” said Boswell.
With one regular season game left against Lycoming on Feb. 18, the Mustangs will know where they stand on the playoffs after the weekend games are concluded.