Dialog reporter
WILMINGTON – After St. Elizabeth had fought back from a seven-point halftime deficit to tie Ursuline in the teams’ highly entertaining Catholic Conference girls basketball showdown on Feb. 8, the top-ranked Raiders could have gone two ways. They could have folded the tent and watched the Vikings complete their comeback, or they could respond in front of a loud, sold-out gymnasium and show why they are the team to beat in Delaware.
Over a stretch of seven and a half minutes spanning the third and fourth quarters, Ursuline answered the third-ranked Vikings with a 17-2 run, building a big lead and going on to a 58-43 victory. The Raiders swept the season series with St. Elizabeth and improved to 15-1 on the season.
“Our energy was really low in the beginning. We had to keep pushing and pushing. That’s how we pushed through and got our lead,” Raiders sophomore guard Alisha Lewis said.
A steal by Alexis Bromwell led to a follow-up field goal for Sarah Metz to a pair to cut Ursuline’s lead to 28-24 early in the third. Bromwell followed with her first points of the game, and she tied it up on the next possession after an offensive foul on Ursuline.
With Lewis on the bench with three fouls, the Raiders went to work. Kay Wulah grabbed a tipped rebound in the paint and hit a short jumper. Wulah then picked off a Vikings pass, leading to Maggie Connolly’s first points of the night. Ursuline’s Kryshell Gordy scored, and after another St. Elizabeth turnover, Allison Olmstead hit Connolly with a long pass. Connolly put in a reverse layup with 3.8 seconds on the clock, and it was 36-28 heading into the final eight minutes.
Yanni Hendley capped a 10-point run with a long two-point field goal after Ursuline held the ball for the first minute of the quarter before St. Elizabeth’s Alexis Lee was able to end the streak with a layup. The Raiders were not fazed. Connolly responded with a three-pointer, then found Lewis with a nice pass and another field goal. By the time the Raiders’ run ended, it was 45-30.
The Vikings got as close as eight, at 51-43, on another Lee bucket, but Ursuline finished the night by scoring the game’s final seven points.
Lewis said games between the two longtime rivals still hold wide appeal. “Everyone always keeps coming back to watch, and it’s always competitive. They always play a great game against us, always competing.”
Alanna Speaks played a strong game for St. Elizabeth, finishing with a team-high 13 points. Lee joined her in double figures with 10. The Vikings (9-7) are off until Tuesday, when they travel to William Penn for a 5:15 p.m. start.
Despite missing time with foul trouble, Lewis scored 13 for Ursuline, as did Olivia Mason, who had 11 in a solid first half. Gordy added a quiet 11. The Raiders visit St. Mark’s on Saturday at 7 p.m. before ending the season against three top-10 opponents: Sanford, Caravel and Concord.
“The win from today will build us momentum for the rest of the games, and we’re going to have to constantly compete with those teams,” Lewis said.
