Women's Basketball ends season on a positive note

By, Luisa Delos Reyes - The Lady Keelhaulers (6-23, 1-13) finished out their season by getting their first conference win against Pacific Union College (PUC) on Saturday night 57-45.

Cal Maritime got off to a great start with junior Katherine Freitas of Durham, Calif. hitting two three-pointers in the first quarter to put the Keelhaulers 13-8.

The Pioneers continued to fight back and were more aggressive on the offensive side. They attacked the basket every chance they got, and did a great job at finishing at the rim. By half time, PUC was only trailing the Keelhaulers by three at 28-25.

The game remained close until senior Lillian Dawkins of Monterey, Calif. sparked a run by grabbing an offensive rebound and momentum by adding two more points for the Keelhaulers with 2:28 remaining in the third quarter. Freitas knocked down a three-pointer from the wing to end the third quarter with a lot of energy favoring the Keelhaulers.

With just 10 minutes remaing in the Lady Keelhaulers' season, they made sure to leave everything they had on the court. The Pioneers were just only trailed by four at the start of the fourth quarter, but with 3:10 left on the game clock, the Keelhaulers were leading by almost 20 points.

"We just got hot all of a sudden," Head Coach Dennis Cox said. "Kat hit consecutive threes, then Nancy knocked one down after an offensive rebound by Swany. In the midst of that, we were defending well and controlling the boards on the defensive end. I thought it was our best defensive game of the year."

PUC made a few more shots at the end of the game, but it was not enough to catch up with Cal Maritime's 12-point lead. Freitas led the team with 19 points and eight rebounds. Senior Luisa Delos Reyes and junior Samantha James follow behind Freitas with eight points and six rebounds.

With the Lady Keelhaulers' season over, Coach Cox has plans to continue to grow and improve the Women's Basketball program.

"We will be focusing heavily on recruiting. We have a lot of holes to fill after losing five senior starters," Cox said. "We need help at every position, but most importantly, I feel like we have to get bigger and stronger in the post. That was a real issue for us this past season".