There were two winners during Saturday’s Elizabethtown College women’s basketball game: the Blue Jays and the members of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
On Saturday, Jan. 24, the Blue Jays faced off against the Susquehanna University Crusaders. The game was neck-and-neck, though the Jays managed to pull through to a final score of 54-45. However, the main focus of the night was on patients with blood-based cancers.
The first half of the Landmark Conference contest had the Blue Jays matched point for point. Etown started with an early lead of 4-0 due to free-throws made by senior Taylor Alwine and sophomore Krissy Pennell. However, the Crusaders managed to keep up, tipping the scale in their favor for 37 seconds before the Jays managed to take back control of the game. Junior Rachel Forjan put Etown back in the lead with a three-point shot. The teams were tied towards the end of the first half, but a lay-up by Forjan and a jumper by first-year Emma Hoesman tilted the score to 27-23 in Etown’s favor.
The Blue Jays started to pick up the pace during the second half of the game. They kept an eight-point lead against the Crusaders thanks to sophomore Emily Martin. She sank seven free throws and scored 11 points for her team during the second half of the game. Additionally, she captured many loose balls and rebounds towards the end of the game to give Etown momentum. “It was close, and that helped us pull away,” Hoesman said in support of her fellow teammate. Junior Alyssa Aichele also did some damage in the second half, with a total of eight rebounds, four steals, three assists and a block worth three points. In the end, the Jays won with a nine-point lead.
Hoesman credits the team’s success partially to their coaches’ scouting report. They expected the Crusaders to be on the offensive, so they were ready to stop them from scoring. First-year Sabrina Hackendorn agreed. “Our couch gave us a really good scouting report on the team we were playing against,” she said. “We were very well prepared.” Hackendorn believed that the Jays were patient with the ball and waited for their shot, helping them reach victory. Meanwhile, Hoesman was proud of the teamwork out on the court.
“We all supported each other, and we worked cohesively rather than as individuals,” Hoesman said after the game. Their teamwork allowed them to play clean and maintain good defense and offense.
While the team was fighting on the court there were many efforts made to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). The LLS is the world’s largest agency dedicated to blood cancer, focused on funding research to find the cure for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma. The LLS offers services and information to patients with blood-based cancers and their families. The organization’s key priority is to ensure that these patients live better, longer lives.
Volunteers sold raffle tickets and T-shirts for the cause, and donations were accepted during the game. Blood-based cancers were on the minds of the players, even as they celebrated their 54-45 point win.
On Tuesday, the Blue Jays kept Dickinson College to just 34 for a 59-34 victory. This is the fourth time this season that the Blue Jays have kept their opponents from scoring more than 40 points. The team now has a four-game winning streak.
Due to turnovers from Dickinson, Etown was up early, 10-0, with points coming from Martin and Alwine. Then, Pennell stole the ball and made a layup to increase the lead to 12-0, causing the opponents to take an early timeout.
Dickinson made a slow climb back to make the score 15-10, with Etown still in the lead. However, Etown’s defense was not going to back down and with the team leading the game in its entirety, the Jays reached the victory.
The team is back in action on Saturday, Jan. 31 to face nationally-ranked opponent, the University of Scranton at 2 p.m.
