Bren, Lady Eagles Extend Winning Streak to Four
Nick Veach
Issue date: 2/2/10 Section: Sports
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The win not only improved the Eagles' overall record to 8-9, but it also helped Benedictine make the leap from fifth place to third place in the NAC South Division, where they currently hold a 6-6 record.
Coming into Saturday's action having won their last two games, the Eagles quickly jumped to the chase by shooting a sensational 7-of-11 (64 percent) from three-point land, in the first half alone.
After leading 31-25 at the break, Benedictine would come out in the second half showing no signs of fatigue. Thanks to another half of brilliant shooting, the Eagles would go on to out score Rockford 45-35 in the second frame to claim the victory.
"It was a huge win. The cross-over games are always big," said head coach Paul Nelson, currently in his fifth season at the helm of the Eagles.
"We got a long way to go, though. We got a lot of tough games left just to get in the tournament, but I was very happy with our effort today."
Despite the fact that the Eagles were going into Saturday afternoon's bout ranked fifth in the NAC in three-point percentage, they would use this ranking to their advantage.
While Benedictine shot nearly 50 percent from the floor, much of this percentage stemmed from their impressive 61 percent three-point field goal percentage on 11-of-18 shooting from beyond the arc.
"I just felt like it was one of those nights where we were on. I just felt that it was a good night shooting and you're going to have those," said Nelson.
"Rockford played a man defense and I thought we did a good job of executing our offense. I thought we did a better job of reversing the ball, which created some opportunities to hit the open three."
Junior guard Karyn Conerty had the hot hand for the Eagles, pouring in a game-high 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor and 5-of-9 from long distance.
While Conerty's 19 points held up as a game high, the Eagles' Tracey Walsh and Monika Krozel were not far behind. Walsh, a sophomore guard, supplied BU with 18 points to go alongside her five rebounds and three assists. Krozel, a senior forward, added 12 points on 3-of-8 shooting.
Junior guard Lidia Arias also stepped into the mix, providing the Eagles with six points, six rebounds and a game-high 10 assists.
"Today was a huge win. Every win is big and it could be a momentum changer for us," said Conerty.
"At this point of the season, every game is crucial."
While Saturday's stellar performance extended Benedictine's winning streak to three, the Eagles are well aware that the road ahead of them could determine their destiny come tournament time.
Now in the later stages of their season, the Eagles will need a series of wins in order to make a run at the NAC Tournament in late February.
"We definitely need to keep up our intensity. We've been playing really well together and keeping ourselves pumped up," said Conerty.
"We've been having good offensive and defensive games. Our team is unselfish and always looks for the person with the hot hand.
As long as we keep doing what we've been working on in practice, we should do fine in the end."
Last night with a win, the Lady Eagles defeated Alverno College, 81-68. Jenn Bren led BU with 24 points and six rebounds. Krozel had 14 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and one steal. Arias was also a big time player for the Lady Eagles on Monday night as she contributed with 12 points, 8 rebounds, five assists and seven steals.
The win last night extended the winning streak to four games and they are now (9-9, 7-6). The team is playing good at the right time and they are off until this Saturday when they battle Concordia University Wisconsin.
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