ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Tuesday, November 30, 2004

Susquehanna Edges Etown 62-58 in Overtime in Commonwealth Conference Opener

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Elizabethtown College head coach Yvonne Kauffman's quest to become only the second NCAA Division III women's basketball coach to amass 600 career victories was temporarily delayed Tuesday night as Susquehanna University snatched a 62-58 overtime win from the Blue Jays at Etown's Thompson Gymnasium in the season's Commonwealth Conference opener for both teams. Kauffman currently remains with 598 career victories in women's basketball, and the Blue Jays drop to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the conference, while Susquehanna improves to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the conference.

Etown trailed Susquehanna for most of the first half but pulled ahead just before the close and carried a 29-26 lead into the locker rooms at halftime. In the second half, Etown held the lead from the start until 6:45 remaining in the half, when a Crystal Schneck (Cresco, PA/Pocono Mountain East) layup for Susquehanna knotted the score at 47-47. Susquehanna gained its first lead of the second half at 6:05 when Val Houseal (Harleysville, PA/Souderton) made a pair of free throws to give the Crusaders a 49-47 advantage.

Jen Roberts (Eagleville, PA/Methacton) tied the score at 49-49 for the Blue Jays when she made a pair of free throws at 5:42, and the score did not budge from there for another 2:22, until Megan Wolfe (Jonestown, PA/Northern Lebanon) hit a three-pointer for Etown to give the Blue Jays a 52-49 lead with 3:20 left in the second half. Schneck made a pair of free throws at 3:01 to pull Susquehanna to within one point of Etown, 52-51. The score stayed at 52-51 until just 22 seconds remained on the clock as Amanda Reid (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth Area) was found wide open under the basket and sank a layup for Etown to increase the Blue Jays' lead to 54-51. With just six seconds left on the clock, Susquehanna's Jenn Evans (Mahanoy City, PA/Mahanoy Area) canned a three pointer to tie the score at 54-54 and send the game into overtime.

The first 1:12 of overtime was scoreless until Schneck hit a fast-break layup for Susquehanna to give the Crusaders a 56-54 lead. An Erin Walton (Columbus, NJ/Northern Burlington County) layup for Etown at 3:23 tied the game again at 56-56. Susquehanna went up permanently with 1:54 remaining in overtime when Evans nailed another three-pointer. A Reid two-point jumper at 1:30 cut Susquehanna's lead to 59-58, and the Blue Jays would get no closer as Susquehanna made a free throw and Schneck made another fast-break layup in the game's closing seconds to make the score 62-58.

A total of 57 turnovers were committed over the course of the game, with Susquehanna turning the ball over 31 times and Etown losing the ball 26 times. The Blue Jays swiped the ball from Susquehanna 19 times, against 13 steals for the Crusaders, and the Blue Jays held a 47-41 advantage in rebounding, including 27 offensive boards against just 14 for Susquehanna. Etown's Achilles' heel turned out to be free throws, as the Blue Jays sank just 14 of its 26 attempts from the line (53.8%) over the game, and Etown shot only 36.4% (4-for-11) from the free throw line in the first half. Susquehanna, by contrast, converted 16 of its 23 free throws for 69.6% accuracy. Etown also made only two of its 17 three-point attempts, while Susquehanna hit four of only six shots from downtown.

Roberts was Etown leading scorer with 14 points and the game's leading rebounder with 11. She also had four steals. Wolfe scored seven points, and the Etown point guard tossed out a game high of six assists, pulled down five rebounds, and made 10 steals, a career high. Walton scored 12 points and had three assists from Etown from off the bench.

Evans led Susquehanna's scorers with 17 points, and she shot 6-for-11 from the field, 3-for-3 from three-point range, and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Schneck added 12 points for the Crusaders, and Houseal led Susquehanna in rebounds with eight.

Etown will return to action Thursday, December 3 in a 7:00 p.m. non-conference road game at Dickinson College.

At Thompson Gymnasium, Elizabethtown, Pa.
SUSQUEHANNA UNIVERSITY 62, ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE 58
SUSQUEHANNA UNIVERSITY (2-1, 1-0)
Jenn Evans 6-11 2-2 17; Crystal Schneck 5-8 2-3 12; Ang Letcavage 3-5 2-3 8; Ruth Williamson 2-2 2-4 7; Sarah Jane Kalejta 1-7 4-4 6; Andrea Carlson 2-7 1-2 5; Skyra Blanchard 2-7 0-0 4; Val Houseal 0-1 3-5 3; Jen Clark 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 21-52 16-23 62.
ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE (1-3, 0-1)
Jen Roberts 4-15 6-8 14; Erin Walton 5-13 2-4 12; Cristin Braun 4-10 1-5 9; Amanda Reid 3-5 1-2 7; Megan Wolfe 2-9 2-3 7; Christina Buso 1-2 1-2 3; Jen Mineo 1-3 0-0 3; Dana Voit 1-7 0-0 2; Audrey Hitz 0-1 1-2 1; Kara Terhune 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 21-67 14-26 58.
Susquehanna University........ 26 28 8 - 62
Elizabethtown College......... 29 25 4 - 58
3-point goals-Susquehanna University 4-6 (Jenn Evans 3-3; Ruth Williamson 1-1; Jen Clark 0-2), Elizabethtown College 2-17 (Megan Wolfe 1-6; Jen Mineo 1-2; Cristin Braun 0-1; Dana Voit 0-5; Erin Walton 0-2; Jen Roberts 0-1). Fouled out--Susquehanna University-None, Elizabethtown College-None. Rebounds-Susquehanna University 41 (Val Houseal 8), Elizabethtown College 47 (Jen Roberts 11). Assists-Susquehanna University 11 (Skyra Blanchard 3), Elizabethtown College 16 (Megan Wolfe 6). Total fouls-Susquehanna University 20, Elizabethtown College 20. A-80