No. 19 Wheaton Rumbles Past CUW

WHEATON, Ill. – The CUW women's basketball team traveled to No. 19 Wheaton on Thursday to close out the 2021 calendar year.

The Falcons held the 19^th-ranked Thunder scoreless for the first three and a half minutes as well as scoring the first points of the game from a basket from sophomore Deidre Lassiter (Highlands Ranch, Colo.).

The Thunder went on a 19-5 run at the end of the first quarter to lead going into the break 19-7.

The Falcons scored 10 points in the second quarter led by junior Lindsey Smitsdorff (Coon Rapids, Minn.) with eight of the 10.  Smitsdorff netted four free throws as well as two layups to total her eight points in the quarter.  She led the team in the first half.  She also led Falcons rebounding with seven at the break.

The Falcons outscored the Thunder 18-17 in the third quarter with strong efforts from seniors Aubrey Buchholtz (Seymour, Wis.) and Camryn Szolyga (Waukesha, Wis.).  Buchholtz netted a three-point basket and two free throws while Szolyga scored two layups.­­­

The Falcons entered the fourth quarter down 35-46 but cut the deficit to four with a layup from junior Reagan Obry (Neenah, Wis.)  The Falcons were forced to foul and put the Thunder on the line where they hit both free throws bringing the lead back to six.  The Falcons were unable to cut the lead back to four after a timeout and were forced to put the Thunder on the line again where they hit both to take the 59-51 lead.  The Thunder were able to get the ball back and run out the remaining 16 seconds and finished the game with an eight-point lead.

The Falcons were led in scoring by Reagan Obry with 14 points on 6-16 from the field and 1-6 from the three-point line.  Lindsey Smitsdorff was right behind with 13 on 4-8 shooting and 5-6 from the free-throw line.

Smitsdorff recorded yet another double-double performance with 10 rebounds on top of her 13 points.

The Falcons shot 81.3% from the free-throw line and led the Thunder in that, blocks with six, and bench points with 13.

That will do it for the 2021 year for the Falcons.  The women's basketball team returns to action in 2022 when they take on Lakeland on Jan. 4.