With this second-half lay-up, senior forward Jaeda Wildgoose came within one point of tying Chestnut Hill College’s all-time scoring record. (Photo by Tom Utescher)[/caption]

by Tom Utescher

The Chestnut Hill College women didn’t have any trouble getting off shots in their final game of 2018, but making them was a different story. Facing Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference rival Georgian Court University last Wednesday evening, the host Griffins tossed the ball toward the basket 70 times on field goal attempts, but only 22 shots dropped (31.4 percent) and CHC fell, 88-73.

The visiting Lions hit almost 44 percent of their shots from the floor (28/64) to improve to 2-1 in the conference and 2-8 overall, while the Griffins departed for the holidays at 0-2, 2-8.

“We’re struggling to score the ball right now,” admitted Chestnut Hill head coach Mike West. “We get good shots and we miss everything from lay-ups to open three’s; it’s happened in every loss. Tonight when we needed to make a shot to start a run or to stop one of theirs, we had trouble getting it.”

Despite the outcome, there was a highlight for CHC as sophomore guard Cassie Sebold churned out a career-high 26 points. The CACC Rookie-of-the-Year last season, Sebold netted three treys and shot seven-for-eight from the foul line against the Lions. She scored a number of lay-ups that looked a little like running hook shots with spin on the ball; at 5’5” (probably an optimistic listing) such moves come in handy for her when driving against larger defenders.

“She was hurt in the fall, and she’s just getting her legs back under her now,” West said. “We like her to be aggressive, because she’s dynamic and she can score in a lot of different ways.”

Second in scoring against Georgian Court, with 17 points, was the Griffins’ outstanding senior forward, Jaeda Wildgoose. She came into the game just 18 points shy of tying Chestnut Hill College’s all-time scoring record. In the first half she pared that number down to 10, but unfortunately she was unable to reach the milestone in front of the home crowd. Just one of the Griffins’ many woes late in the game was a fifth foul called against Wildgoose, at a point when her next field goal would have been a record-setter.

Early in the game, it looked as though the Griffins might have put their shooting problems behind them. Chestnut Hill held a 14-13 edge five minutes into the game, then freshman Lauren Crim bagged two free throws, Sebold scored on a drive and freshman Abbey Spratt nailed a “three” from the right corner.

CHC sophomore Cassie Sebold (left) does a dribble dance with Georgian Court’s Carna Prokic, a senior from Serbia. (Photo by Tom Utescher)[/caption]

After the Lions took a time-out they deposited a midrange jumper, but Sebold had the last word, lobbing a trey from the right side to send CHC into the second round with a 24-15 lead. Scoring inside and out, Georgian Court closed the gap in the new period, entering the final minute of the first half leading 38-37. The Griffins’ Wildgoose, who was five for six from the foul line in the second quarter, nudged CHC ahead 39-38 with the last two of her free throws. A short Georgian Court jumper tipped the scoreboard back in the Lions’ favor for halftime, 40-39.

The Griffins had made 37 percent of their field goal attempts over the first two quarters, but for the second half the figure fell to just under 28 percent. They actually gained a modest lead early in the third period, and were ahead for the last time about midway through the quarter, 48-47.

The Lions were in front, but not truly in command, when the fourth stanza began with a 58-52 score. CHC received an early three-pointer from Spratt, but got no more points over the first five minutes of the period as Georgian Court surged ahead, 69-55. Later, with the clock under four minutes, Wildgoose hit a lay-up to come with one point of the CHC scoring record. That closed the gap to 13 at 72-59, but 30 seconds later the senior committed her fifth foul.

Chestnut Hill was able to pull within eight points of the visitors with two minutes left (76-68), then Georgian Court reasserted itself with a 12-5 closing run. With 12 and 11 points, respectively, rookies Crim and Spratt supplemented the output of Sebold and Wildgoose. Junior Jada Atchison put in 23 points to lead the four Georgian Court players who reached double figures on the scoresheet.

On the injury front, the Griffins were missing sophomore guard Rachel Millan, out for the season due to ACL surgery, and 2016-17 CACC Rookie of the Year Shannon Glenn, sidelined temporarily by a shoulder ailment.

Coach West noted, “That provides an opportunity for someone else to step up; it’s what happens throughout sports. We have people who could do it – we see it in practice, and now we need them to step up in games.”