<uggled through another up-and-down week of MIAC basketball. Carleton (5-14, 4-12 MIAC) pulled out an exciting comeback victory on Monday at St. Kate’s, but it was sandwiched by losses to Augsburg on Saturday and first-place Saint Benedict on Wednesday. Ally Weaver ’11 provided the silver lining to Saturday’s game, as she scored the 1,000th point of her career.
In the first meeting with St. Ben’s (17-3, 14-3 MIAC), the Knights lost 68-37, coming out very cold in the first half. Since then, the Blazers went on a long winning streak until recently losing to Bethel and Hamline. The Knights were able to stay within 16 points of the Blazers this time, suffering a 64-48 loss.
Akemi Arzouman ’13 led the Knights with 14 points and a career high four three-pointers. Jenny Ramey ’14 added 11 points as well. Carleton was down 30-20 at the half, with a promising chance to come back in the second half, but the Knights were unable to trump a 12-2 Blazer run, and finished shooting only 28.3 percent for the game.
On Monday night, Carleton faced St. Kate’s (4-15, 3-13 MIAC), whom they had lost to 62-52 in their first face-off. Despite trailing by 18 at one point during the first half, the Knights were victorious, taking and holding the lead during the last three minutes of the game, with a final score of 72-69.
Arzouman was the key to erasing the deficit, matching her career high with 25 points overall, 18 of them scored in the second half. Emma Purfeerst ’14 had her seventh double-double of the season with 13 points and 14 rebounds and Ally Weaver ’11 had 13 points and a career-high eight rebounds.
In the last minute of the game, the Knights had a foul to spare and Ramey had a key play by fouling, stopping St. Kate’s from attempting what would’ve been an open lay-up and instead causing them to reset and take the ball out of bounds. Overall, the Knights out-rebounded the Wildcats 43-24, giving them many second chance opportunities.
The Knights were unable to hold off Augsburg (5-15, 4-13 MIAC) on Saturday during the teams’ second game of the year. The Auggies defeated the Knights 73-60, extending the point deficit in the second half. In the first game between the teams, the Knights were able to pull away with a 77-67 victory.
Carleton started Saturday’s game off strong, with a 15-2 run causing Augsburg to call a timeout and reevaluate their strategy. The Knights couldn’t keep up the energy, however, letting the Auggies come back and take a 30-27 lead at halftime.
Weaver had a season-best 21 points, scoring her 1,000th point by hitting a three-pointer during the second half. Augsburg completely contained Arzouman and Purfeerst, and they were unable to achieve their normal performances, attributing to the loss.
Carleton has struggled throughout the season to have consistent results. Despite a good start in changing the deficits of games and out-rebounding their opponents, it will take the team playing together as a whole to start winning games. The Knights have a very young team with five first-years, five sophomores, one junior, and one senior. If they continue to fix problems and develop together, the result will be an unstoppable team with great chemistry and experience.
Throughout her career at Carleton, Weaver has been a strong competitor, often ranking among the MIAC leaders in scoring, three-point percentage and makes, free-throw percentage and minutes played. She currently stands ninth on the list of 1,000-point scorers at Carleton with 1,025 points. Weaver has consistently been a threat to the MIAC for four years and will play out the remainder of her senior season moving her way up the program’s all-time list.
The next home game for the Knights is a double-header on Saturday versus Gustvaus, with a 1:00 p.m. tip-off at West Gymnasium.
Kat Walton is a member of the women’s basketball team.