Women split two in Pritchett Classic

Bart Flener sounds like he’s getting tired of giving up leads late in games. The latest offense came in a 59-56 win against Principia College Saturday during the Rita Pritchett Classic. Asbury (5-7) led by 14 midway through the second half, but the Panthers (1-5) continued to crawl back, and the Eagles continued to miss shots. Before you knew it, the two clubs were in a blow-for-blow contest (literally — Anna Stephenson took a shot to the face with about three minutes left and was out the remainder of the game with a bloody nose).

With 13 seconds left, Principia fouled freshman Courtney Albin, Asbury’s best free-throw shooter at 81 percent. She missed the front end of a 1-and-1, but the ball took a long bounce off the back of the rim and ended up in the hands of Brooke Jensen, who swung it over to Ellen Gray, Asbury’s second-best free-throw shooter at 75 percent (which really surprised me, because it seems like when I’m watching, she is automatic at the stripe — just walks up and drains it like it’s silly for them to even make her shoot it. Just chalk up the points). Gray capitalized on the fortunate bounce and knocked down both foul shots with six seconds left, and the Panthers were called for a travel after the inbounds pass, sealing the win.

After the game, Flener acknowledged that he’ll take a victory however he can get it — “A win is a win is a win,” he said in classic Flener deadpan — but after giving up a lead against in a win against UVA Wise Nov. 8 and another one, that time in a loss, against Hanover Nov. 21, he said he is ready to step up and put teams away.

“Youth, maybe. Not knowing how to win, maybe,” he said on why his Eagles find themselves clinging to leads. “We’ve got to figure out how to go ahead and close people out. We got away with it twice. We literally just stop scoring.”

Stephenson, the lone senior, is clearly the leader of the squad, but when she is taken out of a game, both by opposing center Christina Speer’s 6′2″ frame and well-placed elbow, somebody else has to run the team. That role falls on one of four freshmen guards — Courtney Albin, Christy Gemmell, Ellen Gray and Hanna Blankenship. Gemmell has had ball-handling trouble; she leads the team with 65 turnovers (next highest is Albin with 38). Blankenship hasn’t found her shot yet (32 percent from the field), and Gray works best off the ball. That leaves Albin, who, as talented as she is (it’s no secret that I’m enamored with her game), is still playing somewhat out of position, I think, in the small forward role. Still, I think she will be the one who gets the ball down the stretch, missed free throw aside. It’s going to be up to her to take on the challenge.

Albin had 19 against Principia to lead Asbury, and Gray added 18 and six rebounds. I mentioned that Stephenson had trouble against Speer, she had just four points on 2-for-9 shooting. Speer on the other hand? A cool 26 points and 19 boards.

“(Speer) is probably the best post player we’ll face all year — 26 and 19,” Flener said.

As far as the best team they will face all year? That distinction goes to Asbury’s other opponent in the Classic — Shawnee State University, which beat Asbury 84-62. The Bears came in as the #3 team in the country and just overwhelmed the Eagles with size and athleticism. Shooting, too — Mallory Albers and Becky Babione (a six-footer who can step out and shoot in NAIA women’s basketball?) combined for 38 points and were 7-for-11 from the 3-point line.

“The thing about them is they’ve got nine or 10 really good players,” Flener said. “Some teams have two or three, the good teams have five or six, and the great teams have eight or nine or 10. They’ve got ‘em.”

The Eagles ran their offense pretty well against the Bears, finishing the game just over 40 percent from the field. It was the defensive side of the game that gave Asbury so much trouble.

“Any time we had a defensive breakdown, they made us pay,” Flener said. “Whether it was a guard getting driven and our wing has to step out and help and they kick it into the corner for a three, whether that was they ran the high-low and our post players weren’t playing with their hands up, whether it’s giving up an offensive rebound, whether we didn’t identify the shooter, whether we didn’t get back.”

That about says it all.

Stephenson had a solid performance, scoring 19 after getting in foul trouble early. Albin added 14 points and six boards, and Gray put up nine points, although she was just 2-for-9 from the floor. Brooke Jensen grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds.