Jared Kish
Sports Editor 

The Millersville women’s basketball team started their season last weekend with back to back games on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday, they posted up against Notre Dame College (Ohio), and Sunday they tipped off against UVA-Wise. Starting a new season is always exciting, but Millersville would struggle mightily.

In the first game against Notre Dame College, Millersville would be out scored in every quarter besides the third. They would not be outscored by a lot, but in basketball getting outscored in three out of the four quarters makes it hard to win the game.

Millersville played the first half tough. Going into halftime they were only down five points. Stepping out onto the court in the second half Millersville still managed to keep themselves in it never trailing by more than seven. In fact, they came back to tie the game 49-49 within the last minute of the third.

The fourth quarter would cost the Marauders the game. Being outscored 19-12 in the quarter, Notre Dame College managed to pull away at the end going on an 8-0 run resulting in a 71-61 win over Millersville.

Freshmen Samantha Brusha scored the first eight points of the game for Millersville. Brusha had an impressive collegiate debut as she ended the game with 22 points, made five three pointers and played 36 minutes.

Millersville had trouble keeping possession of the ball. They turned the ball over 28 times in the game compared to Notre Dame College who turned the ball over 17 times. This was also the first time Millersville lost a season opener in 12 years.

The Marauders looked to bounce back from a tough opening day loss to Notre Dame College and get a win against UVA-Wise last Sunday.

Millersville busted out of the gates strong gaining a lead of 14-9 in the first quarter, however UVA-Wise would go on a 11-2 run late in the first and never looked back.

In the second, UVA-Wise managed to keep their lead all throughout the quarter going into the half up nine. The score was 41-30 at this point in the game.

Coming out for the third quarter the Marauders were going to have to go on a run. Unfortunately, it would be UVA-Wise going on a 26-10 run which gave them a decent sized lead through the third.

Despite out scoring UVA-Wise in the fourth quarter 17-13, Millersville could not come back and win. Millersville dropped their second game of the season losing 77-68. UVA-Wise snatched the lead in the first quarter and never gave it up. This is the first time the Marauders have lost the first two games of the season since 2005.

Millersville made more than half of their shots shooting at .510 percent. UVA-Wise had a shooting percentage of .435 but where they outshot Millersville was behind the three-point line and at the foul line.

The Marauders had trouble securing the ball again as they turned it over 27 times. In the first two games of the season the Marauders turned the ball over 55 times which makes it hard to win games if the ball is taken away that much.

Sophomore Lauren Lister made her season debut and did not disappoint. She had 24 points, played 33 minutes and had a field goal percentage of .900.

Millersville is now going into a stretch of five straight home games and will look to knock down the number of turnovers and get their first win of the season. Hopefully the home crowd can provide a spark which is what the team needs after dropping the first two games of the season