CHC high scorer Caity Kuhnen, a senior guard, twists her body to get off a shot in the paint. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

In a tough early-season test outside of their conference, the women of Chestnut Hill College met another undefeated hoops squad last Monday evening at Sorgenti Arena, and it was the host Griffins who had to make an initial entry in their loss column.

CHC fell to powerful East Stroudsburg University, 82-71, but the Warriors, who were up 15 points in the second quarter, couldn't keep a double-digit lead over the Griffins until the last half-minute of the game. Missing their most experienced starter, the Chestnut Hill women kept battling back after it looked like ESU might run away with the game on several occasions.

"That's a really good team," remarked second-year CHC head coach Mike West after the fray. "They're third in the region and they beat Philly U. and Holy Family. I thought we played with them, but they have a lot of weapons, and they shot the ball really well."

Hitting five of her nine three-point attempts, Noelle Powell, a sophomore guard out of West Chester's Bayard Rustin High School, put in a game-high 28 points in 26 minutes on the court as her Warriors improved to 5-0 overall while remaining 2-0 within the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC).

A senior guard for Chestnut Hill, Caity Kuhnen, led CHC with 23 points and pulled in five rebounds. At just 5'2", sophomore guard Mary Trossi of the Griffins used her quickness to corral a game-high 10 rebounds while scoring 14 points and dealing out four assists. The Griffins got 11 points apiece from sophomore forward Jaeda Wildgoose (nine rebounds) and junior guard Vicky Tumasz (five rebounds, three assists).

CHC, which won its Central Atlantic Athletic Conference opener against Georgian Court University back in mid-November, was 3-1 overall following Monday's ESU encounter.

The Griffins took to the court without redshirt senior guard Brittany McDounough, who'd been sidelined by an ankle injury.

"She's a fifth-year senior, and she gives us leadership and confidence since she's been through the wars," West said. "She's a scorer and she defends well, and without her we definitely miss some depth, although tonight we had some young ladies like Tomiaya Graham and Cailey Gibson come in and play well."

East Stroudsburg jumped out to a 5-0 lead but Chestnut Hill quickly pulled even and the teams were tied several more times during the first quarter. Kuhnen hit a 15-footer, a lay-up, and a pair of free throws, and Tumasz bagged two of her three three-point field goals (total) during the opening frame. Her second trey, fired from the left corner, sent CHC into the second round with a 21-19 edge.

Here, the Warriors turned off the Griffins' offensive faucet for the first five minutes, with a lay-up by junior forward Nicole Parriski providing the only points for the hosts during that span. With 5:42 remaining in the half, Chestnut Hill called time-out to contemplate a 23-33 deficit.

The Griffins returned to the floor only to see ESU hit a "three," collect a CHC turnover, and add a pair of free throws. With Powell producing two three-pointers and a shorter jumper during the Warriors' five-minute spree, the visitors were now up 15 points, 38-23.

Two lay-ups and a made foul shot by Wildgoose and the third triple of the night by Tumazs got the home side of the scoreboard moving again.

"One thing we already saw last year with this team is that they never give up," Coach West noted. "They're resilient and they just keep playing, and in the middle of a game 15 points is not that hard for them to make up."

Later on a successful drive by Trossi (who had eight points in the first half) got the Griffins back within five points of the leaders, but the visitors had the final word, scoring on a baseline drive to take a 41-34 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

As the third period got underway, Wildgoose stuck a short jumper and then grabbed a defensive rebound at the other end to get the Griffins heading back up the court. This trip yielded a three-pointer by Kuhnen and brought the hosts within two points of the Warriors just half-a-minute into the second half.

A number of different scorers got the East Stroudsburg offense back in gear. Midway through the quarter the upstate squad had a double-digit lead (51-41) and with two-and-a-half minutes left the Griffins were looking at a 15-point deficit (43-58) for the second time in the game.

Chestnut Hill rallied by running the floor briskly and sandwiching two lay-ups by Wildgoose around one by Trossi. This forced a Warrior time-out with 1:16 to go and a 58-49 tally, and the gap was still at nine points at the end of the third stanza, 60-51.

Coming off the CHC bench, Graham and Gibson deposited a lay-up and a three-pointer, respectively, to help the hosts keep pace in the first two minutes of the final round. Then, however, the Warriors were able to summon another burst of offense that put them in front by 16 points (79-63) with under two-and-a-half minutes to go.

A transition lay-up by Pariski and three-point buckets by Kuhnen and Gibson narrowed the gap to eight points in the final minute (79-71), but that's as close as the Griffins would get as ESU locked in the 82-71 final by making three of four free throws.

West was proud of his team's effort, but admitted, "We made some mental mistakes. We broke down and didn't close out the right way."

One of the most noticeable discrepancies on the stat sheet was seen in the steals column; the Griffins had just three in the game while being robbed 17 times by the Warriors.

Throughout the evening, when Chestnut Hill was on defense West implored his players to hold their ground in the paint and take a charge, but that didn't happen very often.

"Being willing to take a charge is sort of a mindset, and not everyone is taught to do it in high school," the coach commented. "The main thing is to cut them off from the basket. I think as we keep going, we'll see the little mistakes that we're making happen less and less."

UPDATE - The Griffins clearly made fewer mistakes two nights later at Holy Family University, where they defeated the Tigers for the first time since both schools became members of the NCAA. Kuhnen cranked out 16 points, seven rebounds, and two assists in the 80-67 win, topping a list of four double-digit scorers for the victors. Chestnut Hill got 13 points apiece from Parriski (eight rebounds) and from Shannon Glenn (seven rebounds), a freshman guard out of Archbishop Ryan, and 10 from Tumasz.