Bull's 30-Pt. Effort Not Enough to Prevent First Defeat

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — Despite a career-high 30-point performance by sophomore guard Briana Bull (Baltimore, Md./Owings Mills), Goucher was knocked from the unbeaten ranks by Delaware Valley, 70-67, tonight.

The Gophers (4-1) came out firing in the first quarter as Joyce Woolen (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) and Bull combined for 12 of the the team's 16 points. The period ended with head coach Patrick Daniel's squad up by nine.

For much of the second quarter, the Aggies (1-4) managed to inch back into the game as Dahlia Wilson converted a layup with 3:57 remaining, cutting their deficit to one. The Gophers responded, however, and with Bull supplying seven of the points and India Perkins (Brentwood, Md./Bladensburg) rebounding a teammate's missed shot and putting it in on Goucher's final possession of the period, a 10-5 run over the final 2:45 bumped the lead back up to 28-22 at the break.

Goucher gained its largest lead of the contest at the 9:25 mark in the third quarter when Jaida Scarborough (Baltimore, Md./Digital Harbor) knocked down two straight free-throws to create a 30-22 cushion.

From there, the Gophers' lead dwindled as the Aggies went on a 10-2 run, tying the game at 32 a piece, then moments later, a layup from Brianna Rivello put them ahead 36-35.

Kristi Kozlowski (Kingsville, Md./Redeemer Classical Christian), a freshman forward making her first career start for Goucher, opened the scoring in the fourth quarter with a mid-range jumper to make the score 45-44 in favor of Delaware Valley, but the Aggies never allowed the Gophers to regain the lead during the final 10-minute period. The one-point gap became four points when Eireann Anastasi knocked down her third 3-point basket of the night less than a minute after Kozlowski's field goal.

Even though the Aggies went 9-of-12 at the free-throw line over the final 1:22, the Gophers still were down by only three points when they gained possession of the ball with 12 seconds left to play. That gave them enough time to get off three shots, beginning with a 3-point attempt by Bull, but they couldn't get any of them to drop before the final horn sounded. 

Woolen and Kozlowski joined Bull as double-digit scorers for Goucher. Woolen furnished the Gophers with 11 points and Kozlowski with 10.

"Defensively, we allowed too many offensive rebounds and just committed dumb fouls throughout the game," Daniel said. "This was a huge wake-up call and we need to improve things on the defensive end quickly with a big conference game on Wednesday."

Goucher will play its first Landmark Conference game of the season on Wednesday when it welcomes Moravian to the Decker Sports & Recreation Center. The opening tip is set for 7 p.m.