Women’s basketball rallies to defeat Green Knights

The Viking women traveled north to De Pere last weekend to face off against St. Norbert’s Green Knights. Turnovers were the order of the day as both teams had trouble
holding on to the ball in the first half. Norbert star center Bianca White, however, had little trouble in the paint as she propelled the Green Knights to a 9-point lead at the half. Early in the second half the teams exchanged blows, taking the score to 47-40 with seven minutes
on the clock, but the Green Knights went dry, missing every shot attempted in the closing six minutes turning the ball over six times. Lawrence, too, faced similar problems but managed to trim the lead thanks to a clutch 3-point play by Carrie Van Groll and a lay up by Kelly Mulcahy which tied the game with two minutes left. Van Groll then converted one of two free throws after being fouled to give the Vikings their first lead of the game. Lawrence squandered a few attempts to extend their lead and handed the Green Knights the ball in the dying seconds. SNC inbounded with three seconds on the clock and put up a prayer, which went in, but was released a fraction of a second after the buzzer went off, to Lawrence’s relief, giving the Vikings the win. LU’s major offensive contributions came from Carrie Van Groll at 14 points and Molly Bouressa who had 13. The Green Knights’ Bianca White had a game-high double-double with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Lawrence’s senior guard Claire Getzoff was quick to praise White’s dominance and asserted that her fourth foul was a turning point in the game. “We played an ugly game,” Getzoff went on to say, “but a win’s a win …”
A half second more on the clock and we would’ve lost. We showed character, however, staying
positive and fighting throughout
the second half, despite being behind the entire game.” Indeed, a win is a win, and the Vikings are now 14-1, good enough for 29th in the latest d3hoops.com poll. The Vikes could creep their way into the top 25 with a few wins this weekend, traveling to Monmouth and then to Grinnell for a pair of key MWC match-ups. Next week will present Lawrence with its next big challenge when they face the Red Hawks at Ripon, where the Vikings haven’t come away with a victory in five years.