Women on drive for next win
Amanda Miles
Issue date: 1/10/07 Section: Full Contact
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The Western women's basketball squad got its first win in over 30 games back on Nov. 15, but couldn't put another notch in that column over the winter break. The Wolves lost all eight games over vacation, but were close to victory several times. Five times, the team's margin of defeat was 12 points or less.
On Dec. 12, Western traveled up to NCAA Division III foe Lewis & Clark. The Wolves trailed by 13 at halftime and by as many as 27 points in the second stanza, but mounted a rally to close to 70-59.
Three nights later, the squad made the short drive to Salem to take on Corban. The Wolves were up by as many as 12 points early in the second half, but couldn't hold on to the lead and lost 68-61. Junior forward Leada Berkey lit up for 33 points in the loss, while junior guard Claire Carpenter chipped in 16.
The women opened their Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) slate on Jan. 4 with a blowout road loss 74-42, but showed resilience two nights later. At home against an ever-tough Seattle Pacific squad, the Wolves were down the entire second half, but almost pulled off the upset, losing 61-57. Sophomore guard Kori Seymour led the way with a game-high 20 points.
When asked about the recent standouts, women's basketball head coach Greg Bruce was happy to share.
"Kori Seymour has stepped up her play since returning from an injury after the Christmas break," said Bruce. "Liz Liechty has improved her effort in practice, which has led to increased playing time for her [and] Kaila Hawley is finally rounding into basketball shape after her long recovery from an ankle injury that occurred in one of our first practices, and she has the ability to really help us become a better team!"
Bruce has many goals for the team.
"[The team is working to] become more consistent in our overall play, [to] work hard, compete for the entire 40 minutes of a game, improve on our ability to play tougher defense, possession by possession and to become a better shooting team, he said.
Next up for the squad is a home game against Central Washington on Thursday, Jan. 11, at 7 p.m. On Jan. 13, Western travels to Nampa, Idaho, to take on Northwest Nazarene.