Gophers Unable to Slow Down High-Flying Crusaders

SELINSGROVE, Pa. — Goucher had one of its better shooting outputs of the season during a tonight's tough road matchup at Susquehanna, making over 40 percent of its shots from the floor for the first time in 14 games.

Most of those shots came from the paint, where the Gophers enjoyed a 32-10 advantage overall. The Crusaders, though, lead the Landmark in 3-point field goal percentage, and they sank 10 of 22 shots from long distance to help send Goucher to a 65-50 defeat.

Susquehanna (13-3, 7-1 Landmark) also scored nine more points than the Gophers (4-12, 0-8 Landmark) from the free throw line, making 13 of 21 attempts compared to 4 of 10 shooting for Goucher.

Jaida Scarborough (Baltimore, Md./Digital Harbor) had five points in the opening six minutes for the Gophers, and she converted a 3-point play with 13:54 on the clock to give the visitors an early 9-5 advantage. Goucher continued to hold a 15-14 lead with 8:55 remaining before Angie Schedler drained a 3-pointer to begin a 13-4 run for the Crusaders.

Schedler made four 3-pointers in the first half, and Susquehanna, aided by 19 Gopher turnovers, expanded its lead up to 39-28 heading into the intermission.

Goucher was then held scoreless in the opening 4:09 of the second half, and the Crusaders went on an 11-0 spurt during that stretch to put the game out of reach.

Amaka Ezeani (Silver Spring, Md./Paint Branch) led the Gophers with nine points and six rebounds off the bench. The junior forward hit four of her six attempts from the field. Olivia Nono (Silver Spring, Md./Montgomery Blair) and Dominique White (Lubbock, Texas/Potomac Falls) each added eight points, while Briana Bull registered four steals. Bull currently ranks third in the Landmark with 2.5 steals per game.

Goucher hit 44 percent (22-50) of its shots for the night, while Susquehanna sank 48.8 percent (21-43) of its attempts from the floor. The Gophers held a 32-24 rebounding advantage, led by six apiece from Ezeani and India Perkins (Brentwood, Md./Bladensburg), but they also committed a season-high 26 turnovers.

Jonaida Williams totaled a game-high 18 points to lead the Crusaders, who have now won four straight and 10 of their past 11 contests.

Goucher remains on the road for its next game, a 2 p.m. matchup at Drew this Saturday. The Rangers (9-8, 3-5 Landmark) prevailed 57-39 when the two teams met at the Decker Sports & Recreation Center on December 6.