Walker scores 38 but St. Francis drops GCAC game
After a rough start at the York Tournament, senior Christine Fasana and her St. Francis girls basketball teammates had 11 days until their next game.
The differences were evident.
"It's kind of a new team and we really worked on coming together and a lot of defense and we worked on a lot of offensive plays," Fasana said. "And having (senior Antwainette) Walker back really, really helps."
They easily could have beaten Bishop McNamara on Thursday in Wheaton but saw it slip away after leading throughout the second half.
St. Francis lost the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference contest 65-62 despite 38 points and 18 rebounds from Arkansas-Little Rock recruit Walker. They also got 14 points and 6 rebounds from Fasana.
The Spartans (1-5, 1-1 GCAC) took a 59-57 lead on sophomore Emily Dziengel's free throw with 1:47 left, but Bishop McNamara (5-2, 1-1) then scored eight straight points while the Spartans committed six straight turnovers. Walker added her fourth 3-pointer in the closing seconds.
"We got really flustered at the end and kept throwing the ball away. You can't do that. That's what kind of lost the game for us," Fasana said. "We had a similar game (beating Providence 57-53 Tuesday). We pulled through and we didn't today so we've got to push through and it'll kind of help us build for the rest of the season."
The Spartans had 22 turnovers. The final six were three steals, an errant pass, an offensive foul on Walker as she drove the right of the lane on a moving defender and a basket nullified by a charging call that would have tied the game at 61 with 17.5 seconds left. The Irish then converted two pairs of super bonus free throws.
The Spartans were 12 of 27 from the free-throw line, including 5 of 16 in a first half with a 13-3 foul advantage, compared with McNamara's 11 of 18, 10 of 16 in the second half. St. Francis emerged from a 27-27 halftime tie to a 46-42 lead entering the fourth quarter.
"When we're less than 50 percent from the free-throw line, we don't box out and we turn the ball over more times than we get offensive possessions, we're going to lose the ballgame," St. Francis coach Melissa Taylor said.
"Although we had the lead most of the game, we didn't take care of it at times when we needed to and we let them change our tempo and didn't play at our pace, which is why they took the game over at the end."
Walker, who was injured during AAU season, made her season debut Tuesday. She scored 29 of the team's first 42 points Thursday before Fasana followed with 8 straight points for a 50-44 lead. Dziengel and freshman Katelin Chaparro each had 4 points.
"Getting back in the lineup is fine. It's just conditioning and running up and down the court. Overall I'll be back in it by tomorrow's game (at West Aurora)," Walker said.
"What we've been working on during practice, lessening our turnovers and not so much dribbling, transitions, all of that kind of stuff we messed up on at the end. This is just a low. Tomorrow's going to be a high."
McNamara, which has no seniors in the program, rallied even after two starters fouled out, including leading scorer Precious Browning on an offensive foul with 4:49 left. Reserve Jaelyn Vickery had 6 of her 16 points in the fourth quarter, 4 on putbacks.
"We've let a couple get away from us. (Coming back) is nice to see because we're really young," McNamara coach John Rutter said.
"We did not play well at all. It's a conference game, we'll take it. They're a good club. They always hustle and are in every game. In that sense, it's a great win."