After Monday night’s 55-35 loss to the Notre Dame Prep Blazers in their IAAM B conference opener, women’s varsity basketball head coach Mike Blizzard summed up the Lady Patriots’ performance in one word: “robotic.”  

Sophomore forward Emily Soller, playing in her first game since returning from a knee injury, agreed: “We did not execute well as a team.”

NDP received the tipoff, and would score first. At the beginning of the first quarter, JC was already struggling to make two point attempts.

NDP, by contrast, was consistently hitting both two and three pointers, allowing them to capture the lead early in the game.  By the end of the first quarter, JC was down 15-12, and they would never gain a lead. 

By the end of the second quarter, the gap had increased, with a score going into halftime of 34-24. 

The arrival of the second half brought a visible increase in frustration from Blizzard.  He could be seen and heard stomping his feet several times in reaction to missed rebounds by JC players, who seemed at times to actually move away from the rebounding ball instead of towards it.

 However, Blizzard’s increased fervor was not enough to encourage the Patriots to gain the lead.  By the end of the third quarter, the Patriots had only scored four points, bringing the score to 47-28. 

The team was visibly fatigued coming into the fourth quarter, and the game ended in a 55-35 loss. 

After the game, Blizzard was noticeably disappointed, but he noted that the team “looked like [they] were thinking.” 

Although Blizzard is working with a team that has no seniors, he said, “The underclassmen are extremely mature.” 

With the young talent on the team, Blizzard looks forward to a bright future for JC women’s basketball, but he said, “It takes a while to get a program off the ground.”  

Caitie Beth Shauck can be reached for comment at [email protected].