Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) play has not been kind to the University of Dallas women’s basketball team as they dropped two home games this weekend, falling to 1-6 in league play.
The Crusaders lost 58-48 on Friday to Texas Lutheran and 66-56 to Southwestern on Sunday. Sunday’s game was a particularly disappointing one for the Crusaders as their former coach, Greta Grothe, had left the team in the summer to coach Southwestern.
Friday night saw the Crusaders fall behind early as the Bulldogs started the game on a 6-0 run and led 16-9 after the first quarter. UD could never really get back into the game as they shot just 29 percent from the floor for the game. The Bulldogs shot 40 percent from the field and 43 percent from the three-point line.
Senior forward Michelle DeCoud led the team in points, rebounds and assists with 17, 8 and 4 respectively. Freshman forward Vanessa Diaz was the only other double-digit scorer with 12 points off the bench.
On Sunday, the Crusaders were determined to beat Southwestern and their former coach.
“I was … very excited and fired up to face Greta today to show her that leaving us was a mistake,” senior Helen Onyenso said.
Perhaps they were too emotional to begin the game as the Pirates opened the game on a 21-5 run. The Crusaders settled down and cut the lead to 33-26 with 58 seconds left in the half and trailed 34-26 at halftime.
The Crusaders came out on fire in the second half, opening with a 14-0 run to take a 40-34 lead. Both teams then went cold as Southwestern battled back to take a 44-42 lead at the end of the third quarter. They then extended their lead to 51-42 with 5:43 left in the game, and the Crusaders weren’t able to get back in the game.
DeCoud had another big day dropping 20 points and pulling down 10 rebounds for a double-double.
“I’m pretty disappointed we weren’t able to get a win this weekend,” DeCoud said. “We were competitive with both teams.”
UD sits at the bottom of league play having played everyone in the league once, but the schedule will now flip as they play everyone again, beginning next weekend when they take on Texas Lutheran and Southwestern on the road.
“I can’t wait to face off against them next weekend,” DeCoud said.
“I know we will definitely be more prepared and able to do all the little things to help us win,” Onyenso said.
