While the Shippensburg University women’s basketball team’s 4-15 record would not necessarily reflect a mark of a team destined for greatness, a change has occurred in the past few weeks.

Despite suffering many losses early in the season, the Raiders split two games against Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East foes Bloomsburg University and Kutztown University this past week. The win over Bloomsburg was the first PSAC-road win of the season for SU, and one that put it into contention for the conference tournament.

SU traveled to Bloomsburg on Wednesday and convincingly beat the Huskies, 83-64. The Raiders used a dominant effort from freshman guard Ariel Jones, who had one of the best games of her career. She poured in 32 points, including four 3-pointers, to go along with seven rebounds and four assists. 

The Raiders got off to an outstanding start, outscoring the Huskies 21-12 in the first quarter. Shippensburg used a torrid day from beyond the arc, as they shot 6-of-12 from 3-point range, while getting to the free-throw line as they attempted 34 free throws, to lead it to its fourth win of the season. 

Going into Saturday’s game against the Kutztown Golden Bears, the Raiders were holding onto the sixth and final playoff spot in the PSAC East. However, the Raiders were not able to sustain the high of Wednesday night’s win, as Kutztown defeated Shippensburg on Saturday afternoon at Heiges Field House, 67-56. 

The Raiders struggled to get anything going on the offensive end and struggled to keep control of the basketball. The Raiders’ poor shooting performance at the free-throw line, combined with the 19 turnovers they committed, made it impossible to claw back in the second half. SU missed 11 free throws on the day.

Kutztown dominated the first quarter of play on Saturday, outscoring Shippensburg 20-12. The Golden Bears made four of their eight 3-pointers in the quarter, and they consistently answered every attempt by SU to get back in the game, dropping in a shot from deep every time SU seemed to gather some momentum.

For the Raiders, Jones was not able to follow up her brilliant performance against the Huskies, but still managed 16 points, despite struggling from beyond the arc, shooting just 1-of-5 from 3-point range. 

Senior guard Victoria Blackburn was a bright spot for SU, continuing her consistent play. Blackburn totaled 12 points, five rebounds and three assists in the loss. It was the 10th time in the last 11 games that she has scored nine or more points and the seventh-straight game that she has posted three or more assists. 

The Golden Bears, led by freshman guard Zoe Zerman’s 15 points and three 3-pointers, used the long ball to their advantage. Kutztown made eight shots from behind the arc, while SU hit just 2-of-13 attempts from 3-point range. 

An overall positive that the Raiders can take away from this split is that they consistently got to the free-throw line.

In Wednesday’s win over Bloomsburg, the Raiders got to the line 34 times. In Saturday’s loss to Kutztown, the Raiders got to the line 27 times. On average, Shippensburg gets to the line about 21 times per game. Over this past week, the Raiders averaged around 30 free throws per game. The next step is to improve on the team’s 70.2 percent free throw percentage. 

The Raiders (4-15, 3-10 PSAC) continue their season with a home game on Wednesday against East Stroudsburg University at 6 p.m.

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