Free Throws Loom Large in Bowie State’s 81-70 Loss at Shippensburg

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - Shippensburg shot 32-of-45 free throws compared to just 5-of-16 for Bowie State in the Lady Bulldogs 81-70 loss to the Raiders.

Junior Ashley Castle (Brooklyn, N.Y.) poured in a career-high 27 points and added three assists and four steals to lead Bowie State. Junior teammates Kiera Phipps (Arlington, Texas) and Alisha Burley (Baltimore, Md.) chipped in 11 and 10 points respectively in the Lady Bulldogs first loss of the season.

With the game at tied at 10-10, the Raiders went on a 15-1 run to take their largest lead of the game at 25-11 with 9:31 left in the first half. Bowie State closed the gap to eight, four times in the final 9:31 but trailed 37-29 at halftime.

The Lady Bulldogs shot better behind the 3-point line in the first half (44 percent) than they did inside the arc (29 percent) in the opening period. Bowie State made 10-of-35 first half field goals and 4-of-9 triples.

The Raiders (5-1) made 12-of-32 first half field goals (38 percent), which included 3-of-10 (30 percent) beyond the arc.

First half free throws were relatively close in the opening period with Shippensburg converting 10-of-17 (59 percent) compared to 5-of-13 (39 percent) for Bowie State.

The Lady Bulldogs pulled within five with 2:52 left in the second half, but solid free-throw shooting and rebounding allowed the Raiders to close it out. Speaking of free throws, Shippensburg attempted a whopping 28 second half free throws, making 22 while Bowie State had only three free throw attempts over the final 20 minutes, missing all three. In fact, Bowie State second half free throws came in the final 2:01.

Senior Alessandra Flores Conway (Hagerstown, Md.) and junior Denver Clyde (Glen Burnie, Md.) contributed seven points each for the Lady Bulldogs and graduate student Brooke Miles (Upper Marlboro, Md.) along with junior Jasmine McIntosh (Bowie, Md.) contributed four points in the setback. Clyde led Bowie State on the glass with nine rebounds while Miles pulled down seven.

The Raiders were led by Stephanie Knauer’s double-double of 20 points and 15 rebounds. Lauren Gold scored 19 points and Sarah Strybuc recorded 16 points and a game-high seven assists for Shippensburg. Caitlyn Deeter rounded out Shippensburg’s double figure scorers with 10 points.

Bowie State (3-1) returns home to host Queens (N.Y.) College on Saturday (December 7th) at 2 pm in the A.C. Jordan Arena.