Women’s hoops battles it out
Image: Women’s hoops battles it out:Shane Angell/State Hornet Sophomore Atty Boyer drives to the hoop during the Hornets 52-48 win over Bethany University on Nov. 10. The Hornets host Nevada on Friday for their first game since Nov. 26. :
December 6, 2006
The women’s basketball team has had a long time to think about the last six games before it steps back on the court to do battle. The team is currently in the middle of an 11-day break between games. After opening the season with a 52-48 win over Bethany University, the Hornets dropped six straight games. All six games, however, have been on the road, and two of those games were against nationally-ranked North Carolina (6-0), which is No. 2, and UCLA (4-4), which was No. 19 at the time.
With the Hornet’s next game not until Friday against Nevada, they have time to regroup and look toward the future. Even with the team on a six-game losing streak, coach Dan Muscatell remains positive about his team.
“I’m really excited to get back to practice and have an opportunity to teach,” he said.
The immediate future holds that date with Nevada where the Hornets will be at home for only the second time this year. Nevada comes in with a 3-3 record and is currently on a three-game losing streak. The Wolf Pack will be led by Dellena Criner and Traci Graham, who come in averaging 16.5 points and 12.3 points respectively.
The Hornets (1-6) will look to stop the hot shooting of Criner, who is shooting an unheard of 64.3 percent from beyond the arc. The Hornets will counter with the all-conference backcourt of Kim Sheehy (averaging 9.7 points per game) and Stephanie Cherry (averaging 7.6 points per game). “I want to lead this group and show them it’s going to take hard work every day to win,” Sheehy said.
That’s exactly what Sheehy and Cherry have done this year, leading to their game against Nevada. But the real battle in this game will be up front between Nevada forward Cherlanda Franklin and the Hornets’ Atty Boyer. Boyer is coming off of a solid trip in Hawaii, where she led the Hornets in scoring in two of the three games. Franklin is coming in averaging 9.0 points and 6.8 rebounds per game while Boyer brings in an average of 8.1 points and 4.6 rebounds.
After the Nevada game, the Hornets go back on the road to play UC Davis on Saturday at 5:05 p.m.
Aaron Boore can be reached at [email protected]
