Bob McGovern

Collegian Staff

The injury-plagued Massachusetts women’s basketball team came out scrappy against conference rival Fordham, but couldn’t finish the job over the stretch.

UMass held the lead only once against the Lady Rams, on the initial basket of the game by senior guard Judit Zsedenyi. Zsedenyi and the Minutewomen struggled from then on and suffered a 61-45 loss.

The Maroon and White was down 25-23 at halftime, but couldn’t keep the same intensity coming out of the locker room. With a slew of walking injured, including forward Glamora Maeweather and point guard Monique Govan, the Minutewomen were sluggish as the game pressed on.

“We didn’t have Cleo or Mo for practice, so we’re down, and Edris got hurt in the first half,” UMass coach Marnie Dacko said, “This is one game where I think it’s clear that our defense let down and we didn’t shoot particularly well so we hung in there the first 20 minutes; we just didn’t have what it takes in the second half.”

With only seconds remaining in the half, Edris Bailey charged down three-quarters of the court and heaved a desperation shot that fell short. Bailey landed awkward and aggravated her left knee, forcing her to be helped off the court.

Fordham had trouble figuring out the UMass defense in the first half and turned the ball over 16 times. The Minutewomen, however, couldn’t use the opposition’s miscues to their advantage and shot a meager 29 percent from the field.

As the second half began, it was clear that Fordham was the aggressor. Junior guard Monica Mack hit a jump shot, which was followed by a UMass turnover. The Lady Rams capitalized on the miscue, as Patricia Williams received an open feed and nailed a three making the score 30-23.

Monica Mack led all scorers on the day with 18 points, and she also dished seven assists and grabbed four rebounds.

The Minutewomen couldn’t muster any offense against Fordham’s two-three zone. Aside from Joyce Massey’s first field goal of the half, UMass was held to free throws for the first five minutes.

“They’re trying but we have to be able to finish inside,” Dacko said, “We have to be able to make free throws, we just need more bodies and we don’t have them so were trying to make due with what we have.”

Part of UMass’s woes stemmed from poor shooting from leading scorer Judit Zsedenyi. Aside from her first basket of the game Zsedenyi was 0-for-9 from the field, including 0-for-4 behind the arc.

“She’s struggling, she’s in a slump, she keeps putting it up and she keeps working on her shot, it’s just not falling for her right now,” Dacko said.

At one point during the half the Lady Rams jumped out to a game high 20-point lead. The Minutewomen only turned the ball over four times in the half, but were continually forced into poor shots and couldn’t finish the few opportunities they were given.

The defense just broke down and the offense couldn’t fix anything.

One bright spot for UMass was the play of junior Michelle Cantave. Cantave had to take over the point guard spot for a hobbled Govan and nailed a three halfway through the final period to stop Fordham’s momentum.

Cantave has only played in four games this season with limited minutes. The excess of injuries has caused Dacko to reach deep into her bag of tricks and look for help on the other end of the bench.

“It’s a long season, it’s a long season when you don’t win,” Dacko said. “It’s a long season when you don’t have healthy kids and the bulk of your team is in street clothes. It’s hard for me to get up right now.”