ROHNERT PARK, CALIF. - On Wednesday, November 25th, the Sonoma State women's basketball team made their home debut in the Wolves' Den against PacWest opponent Holy Names University. Head coach
Rich Shayewitz and his group looked to get back to their winning ways after starting the season 0-4. Shayewitz has been continuing to mesh and blend his newly formed squad after graduating his entire starting lineup after the 2019-20 season and with some big leads held in their recent games the team would seem to be moving in the right direction.
Shayewitz's classic defensive style would shine through in the first quarter as the Seawolves held the Hawks to just 8 points in the quarter to jump out to a 14-point lead. Holy Names finished the quarter with just three made field goals. SSU came out hot making 8 of their 13 shots in the period including three 3-pointers. Two of the three would come from senior
Taylor Johnson and the other from transfer
Chasity Spady in transition. Johnson would lead the Seawolves in scoring in the first half with 6 points on 2 of 3 shooting.
The game would mellow out, however, as the Hawks came back to outscore the Seawolves 12-9 in the second period making it an 11 point game at the half. A common trend in previous games, SSU went cold from beyond the arc as they went 0-7 from three point range in that second quarter. But again, holding HNU to just 12 points was good enough defensively to maintain their lead heading into halftime.
The third quarter would bring about some more back and forth action. The Hawks outscored the Seawolves again 14-11. However, Sonoma State's bench came alive towards the end of the third and into the fourth quarter. Guard
Jayme Blackard brought nice life to the game on both ends of the floor. She would tally 26 minutes off the bench and finish with 7 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals. Freshman
Alli McDonald would show her versatility and length as a forward, recording 9 points and 11 rebounds in 22 minutes of action off the bench.
Camille Johnson had her athleticism on full display as she had several strong driving layups finishing high above the Hawk defenders. Johnson finished the night with 8 points on 50% shooting and grabbed 4 rebounds.
The night would belong to junior transfer
Chasity Spady as she came off the bench for 20 big minutes and put away a team high 11 points on 5 of 8 shooting. She would help SSU to start the fourth quarter on a 6-0 scoring run to help secure the game. The Seawolves bench production and points in the paint would go down as two of the most significant stat lines of the night. Shayewitz and his group outscored Holy Names 38-8 in the paint and Spady helped lead the way as SSU recorded 41 bench points to give the Hawks multiple problems all over the floor. Center
Amanda Luckett found a solid rhythm as well for the Seawolves as they held their largest lead of the game midway in the fourth quarter. In a span of several possessions, Luckett converted on two layups, recorded a block and a steal before ending her night.
The Seawolves grab their first win of the season and improve to 1-4 on the year. The Sonoma State women's basketball team will return to the Wolves' Den again this Saturday as they take on another PacWest foe in Academy of Art. Live stats can be found at sonomaseawolves.com and the game can be streamed live on the CCAA Network, tip off is at 2:00 PM.
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