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By DAVID PENCEK; Times Leader Sports Writer
Thursday, December 10, 1998 Page:
CENTER VALLEY- Wilkes’ schizophrenic women’s basketball team hit bottom on
Wednesday.
Playing against defending Middle Atlantic Conference champion Allentown,
the Lady Colonels turned the ball over like Santa passing out Christmas gifts
and worsened their night with a shooting performance that coach Karen Haag
never could imagine coming from her team.
“I’m so embarrassed,” Haag said after Allentown’s 66-41 whipping of the
Lady Colonels before 195 fans at Billera Hall. “I thought we would come down
here and it would be a war. I wasn’t sure we could win it or not. Not even in
my worst nightmares did I think that after the first two minutes we would not
even be in the game.”
It took a bit longer than that because the Centaurs (4-3 overall, 2-1 MAC
Freedom League) didn’t exactly play as if they’re ready to defend their title.
But Wilkes’ play increasingly grew worse in the first half and Allentown’s
lead got larger.
The Lady Colonels (3-4, 1-2) took themselves out in the first half by
scoring a mere nine points. They threw out 15 turnovers and went 3-for-26
shooting from the field. They didn’t make a field goal in the final 9:14 of
the half and saw a six-point deficit balloon to 16 by halftime.
When Allentown’s Kate Corcoran scored the first four points of the second
half, the Centaurs’ lead hit 20, at 29-9.
The Lady Colonels improved in the second half only to the extent that they
finished with 22 turnovers and shot 22 percent from the field.
“They’re a great defense. That’s what they do,” Haag said. “But we didn’t
attack. We were so passive.”
Kelly Cleighton led Allentown with a game-high 14 points while Corcoran
added 12. Katie Watkins led the Lady Colonels with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
During their forgettable first half, Wilkes had two scoring droughts of
more than four minutes and two more that lasted more than five minutes,
including the final 5:11 of the half.
Allentown scored the half’s final six points to lead 25-9. In the second
half, the Centaurs lead grew to as much as 31.
WILKES (41)
Lojewski 2 0-0 5, Mendygral 0 0-0 0, LoPiccolo 0 0-0 0, Eddy 0 0-0 0,
Collins 0 2-2 2, Zaykoski 1 2-2 4, Wilson 0 0-0 0, Ronkowski 1 1-2 3, Smurl 0
0-0 0, Elwood 2 4-6 9, Huber 1 0-0 2, Watkins 4 3-4 11, Burchill 1 1-2 3,
Pikulski 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 13-20 41.
ALLENTOWN (66)
Ganci 0 0-0 0, Karpovich 0 1-2 1, Cleighton 6 1-2 14, Samoylo 2 1-2 5,
Mancuso 2 0-0 4, Flory 2 0-0 4, Kaucher 1 0-0 2, Corcoran 4 2-2 12, Reviello 0
0-0 0, M