Women’s Basketball Notebook: Faulty second half hinders women’s basketball in loss to High Point

Jim Swing
Sports Editor

Beth Cunningham walked through the media room doors with red-rimmed eyes and an unsettled look on her face.

There was no cause for celebration or a smile for the VCU women’s basketball coach after a season-opening loss to High Point (1-0), 82-67, Friday night.

The Rams (0-1) went into the break with a three-point lead, but a defensive collapse in the second half – including allowing the Panthers to score the final 14 points of the game – led to a disappointing finish to the night.

“I think just as a whole, regardless of the last five minutes, I’m just disappointed, really disappointed,” Cunningham said. “A lot of things that we talked about, a lot of the things we needed to do coming into this game, for whatever reason, we weren’t doing them.”

It was a tale of two halves, one good, one bad. VCU took as much as a 10-point lead in the first half with just four minutes remaining before the break. Transfer over to the second half and it was all High Point. The Panthers went on a 12-2 run to take a seven-point lead with 10 minutes left in the game.

For High Point, it was revenge after VCU spoiled its home opener in the final minutes of the game last year.

FOUL TROUBLE HINDERS HURT

Senior forward Courtney Hurt only saw 10 minutes in the first half due to two quick fouls that kept her out of the game.

Not only did the foul trouble keep VCU’s leader off the court but also out of her flow.

“She really never got into the flow tonight, and I think that was the biggest thing,” Cunningham said. “And I think obviously from the first-half foul trouble and even in the second half, just her foul trouble affected her ability to get in the flow.”

Despite missing much of the first half, Hurt finished with 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

MOVING FORWARD

When asked what positives she could take out of Friday night’s game, Cunningham chuckled before searching for an answer.

For one, senior guard Andrea Barbour showed she could step up when Hurt wasn’t on the floor. Barbour scored a team-high 18 points, 14 coming in the first half.

Freshman Christina Carter showcased her crisp shooting Friday night, along with dishing out a pair of assists and a steal.

But Cunningham knows her team can be better.

“I feel like we know better, and we know we’re better than this,” she said. “And I think it’s a matter of stepping up and doing the little things everyday and the little things we work on in practice.”

VCU hits the road to face Liberty Tuesday before traveling to Missouri-Kansas City four days later.

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Photos by Chris Conway