Gophers Can't Overtake Rangers in Landmark Tilt

MADISON, N.J. — Goucher never held the upper hand on the scoreboard in today's Landmark Conference game against Drew. It wasn't that the Gophers didn't have their opportunities to go ahead, but every time the Rangers were in danger of surrendering the lead, they came up with a key basket or a defensive stop.

Nine times Goucher had possession of the ball with a chance to either tie the score or take the lead. Amaka Ezeani (Silver Spring, Md./Paint Branch) put them in those positions several times as four of her seven field goals cut leads by Drew down to either one or two points. The senior center finished with a team-leading total of 15 points.

In the opening two minutes of the game, Sam Lane of the Rangers knocked down a 3-point shot, but Ezeani followed that with a layup. With 5:39 left in the first quarter, she pushed another layup into the basket, to again cut the home team's lead to two.

Drew extended its advantage to 16-10 with 1:16 showing on the clock, but Kristi Kozlowski (Kingsville, Md./Redeemer Classical Christian) knocked down two straight jumpers for Goucher to make it a 16-14 contest after one period.

A 3-point bucket by Briana Bull (Baltimore, Md./Owings Mills) trimmed a five-point bulge down to two points early in the second quarter. When Ezeani rebounded her own miss and stuck it back in, the Gophers were again  down only by two points midway through the period, but by the end of the first half, the Rangers (4-2, 2-0 Landmark) had opened up a 33-23 cushion.

Baskets by Bull and Ezeani both had Goucher down by just two points in the third quarter, but by the time the horn sounded to end the period, the gap was back up to nine at 46-37.

Drew put the game away in the fourth quarter, outscoring Goucher, 22-13. Courtney Stephens tallied the Rangers' first nine points of the final stanza and finished with a game-high total of 21.

"It is very frustrating that we don't do the little things to give ourselves an opportunity to be successful," head coach Patrick Daniel commented after the game. "Adjustments will be made and I will be a better coach for this team because right now, we are not where we want to be."

Goucher travels to York (Pa.) on Wednesday in a non-conference matchup. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.