The women’s basketball team won their first conference game by defeating Franklin & Marshall on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 47-40. First-year center Erica Buls ’17   led the way with 12 points and 9 rebounds. She was aggressive throughout the game and got to the free throw line four times, sinking all eight of her attempts.

On Jan. 25 the team competed against Swarthmore for the second time this season. The Red Devils tried to bounce back despite losing 73-50 to the Garnet on Saturday. The team played a strong first half, keeping it only 16-12 with 6:11 left in the first half. Sam Kennedy ’16 threw down a three-pointer to advance the score 24-17 with less than three minutes left in the half. The Garnet added another four points allowing the Red Devils trail by nine at the half advancing to 28-19 at the whistle.

Heading into the second half of the game, Swarthmore added another eleven while the Red Devils only contributed two in the opening minutes. Liz Schultz ’15 added ten points for the Red Devils, including three rebounds and two assists. She hit four of her five free throw attempts on the day. Sarah Phillips ’15 contributed nine points, two assists, and a pair of blocked shots. Rachel Sisco ’16 shot four for six adding eight points while Helen Roberts ’17 contributed seven points and five rebounds. Erica Buls ’17 pulled down seven rebounds despite the Red Devils loss to the Garnet.

“I am really proud of how hard all of the girls on the team are working,” said Phillips. “We show up to every practice and game with a winning mentality, knowing that we will work as hard as we possibly can to improve and be successful. Unfortunately, not every game ends how we would like, but I think that this year is so important for our team’s future success. We have every player returning next year, an advantage that no other team in our conference will have, and I believe that if we keep working hard and developing our team chemistry, we will see a lot of the success that we were hoping to experience this year.”

The Red Devils are currently 4-12 overall and 1-10 in Centennial Conference play. The team will be hosting Muhlenberg College on Thursday night. The game is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m.