Canaan Hess/The Veritas News
Ruby Leon leads the Lions with 12.8 points per game.
Despite winning their first conference game against Gordon College on Jan. 18, women’s basketball has lost three straight Commonwealth Coast Conference games to drop to 9th place.
After making the conference playoffs the past two years, women’s basketball will need to close out the 2013-14 season strong to make a third straight appearance.
Last week, the Lions lost to first-place University of New England 72-37. The Nor’easters have only lost three conference games since the 2011-12 season.
“UNE’s pressure defense overwhelmed us the first six minutes of the game. Unfortunately, it was all they needed to gain a comfortable lead for the rest of the night,” head coach Sacha Santimano said.
“They executed better than we did,” junior guard Jasmine Johnson (Los Angeles, Calif.) said. “They capitalized off of our mistakes.”
On Saturday, the Lions lost 58-51 to Curry College, the fifth-place team in the CCC.
“At home, I thought we fought but shots just didn’t fall,” Santimano said. “When you shoot 15+ more shots than the other team and significantly out rebound them, most teams win.”
“Defensively, I think that a lot of people showed up, offensively, we struggled to play together,” Johnson added.
With seven games remaining, the Lions still have a chance to make the postseason. They are currently 2.5 games out of a playoff spot.
Santimano believes the women still have a shot at getting into the postseason.
“Of course we can make a run. The girls know what’s in front of them,” she said. “It’s about taking care of business, playing to their God-given abilities and knowing how blessed they are and seize that opportunity.”
Five out of the Lions’ seven remaining games are against teams in the bottom-five of the conference.
“We need to put a complete game together to win games,” Santimano said. “Also, while getting stops during the game, we need to also score and not have offensive droughts.”
The Lions play Roger Williams at 6 p.m. in Rhode Island on Tuesday, Feb. 4. Their next home game is at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 8, against Wentworth.