MONTCLAIR, NJ – Mary Schoenherr (Unionville, CT/Farmington) set career highs in both points (18) and rebounds (14) on Sunday afternoon against Bethany, as the Hartwick women's basketball team got by Bethany College (WV), 58-53. After averaging 11 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.5 steals over the two-day tournament, Schoenherr was named to the All-Tournament team. The win bumps the Hawks back above .500 to end the calendar year, at 6-5, while the Bison fall to 2-9.
The teams battled back-and-forth early; after Hartwick took the game's first lead on a Molly Kirby (Selkirk, NY/Bethlehem) lay-up, there were five lead changes by the time Bethany's Courtney Walker hit two free throws for a 7-6 lead at 5:26. That lead grew to three at 9-6 and 11-8, but 'Wick scored the quarter's last seven points to end the period ahead, 15-11.
Hartwick led 19-13 under three minutes into the second stanza, but from there Bethany went on a 9-0 run to claim a three-point lead. Walker started it with a jumper and a three to close the gap to one, and Kelsie Meintel and Alexis Heap had buckets to finish off the stretch. Undeterred, the Hawks reclaimed the lead by the end of the quarter and led 27-25 at the break.
'Wick looked like they put a hold on the game by the time the third quarter ended. The Bison cut the lead to one on a Mientel lineup with 5:55 left, but the Hawks began to extend their lead back out from there, and a Schoenherr jumper with 1:10 on the clock made the lead eight. Mientel hit two free throws soon after, but another Schoenherr bucket (in the paint) gave the Hawks a 42-34 lead after three.
Allison Kuhn's three-ball 1:53 into the fourth cut the Hartwick lead to two at 44-42; the Hawks immediately fired back with seven straight points, via a jumper from Kayley Ericson (Franklin, CT/Norwich Free Academy), a Giuliana Pritchard (Amsterdam, NY/Amsterdam) lay-up, and a Victoria Sacramone (Queens, NY/St. Mary's) three for a 51-42 lead, their largest of the game.
As each team had done before, Bethany stayed with it, and back-to-back buckets from Kuhn and Walker made their deficit just two at 55-53 with 3:26 on the clock. Each team went cold from there, as there was no scoring for over three minutes of game time. Maggie Kirby (Selkirk, NY/Bethlehem) had a chance to make it a two-possession game with 21 seconds left, but sank just one of two free throws. She immediately made up for it on the other end, though, swatting a Kuhn lay-up attempt out of bounds that went off a Bison player last. Two Schoenherr free throws with 13 seconds left would ice the game.
Schoenherr's career day gave her the game high in points, rebounds, and assists (five). She now has 295 career assists, tied with Stephanie Winn for tenth-most in program history, and should move up the list quickly as eighth place is held by Chris Coons and her 299 dimes. Schoenherr has 92 rebounds on the year, narrowly pulling ahead of Pritchard's 90 for first among all Hawks. Pritchard had 12 points, two board, and two assists, and Maggie Kirby ended up with eight points, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a block. Taylor Verboven (Columbia, CT/E.O. Smith) set an early-career high with nine points on 4-of-9 shooting in 19 minutes.
Walker led the Bison in points (16), rebounds (seven), and steals (three), and was followed closely behind by Meintel at 14 points and five boards. Kuhn contributed as well, with eight points.
Neither team shot all that well overall. Hartwick edged out Bethany from the field, 37.5% to 36.5%, but was just 11.8% from deep compared to the Bison's 18.2%. Hartwick won the rebounding battle, 42-35, including 16-9 on the offensive boards (leading to a 15-6 lead in second chance points). 'Wick also had the advantage in turnovers, at 16 to 19, and had a 13-9 lead in points off of turnovers.
'Wick gets it going in the new decade next Saturday, when they start conference play at Elmira on January 4 at 4 p.m.
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