The women's basketball team opened up their season with a 57-51 win over Florida Gulf Coast University on Friday night at Walsh Gymnasium.
Senior guard Jasmine Crew had a game high 20 points, but her perfect 8-8 night from the free throw line helped secure the Pirate victory.
"I definitely expect more from myself," Crew said. "I didn't have a great shooting game, but foul shots really helped us out."
According to Head Coach Anne Donovan, Crew has been "so focused" since the end of last season.
"[Crew] came back so prepared, Donovan said. "I have so much trust in her at the end of the games that she's going to find a way to win for us."
Both teams showed some rust in the first half, taking nearly two minutes for a basket to be scored, and neither team shot over 40 percent from the floor.
The teams picked up the offensive pace in the second half, with both teams doubling their first half points.
Crew said that in the first half, the team was not playing to win and Donovan called a timeout to set the team straight.
"We came out a little lax," Crew said. "Coach talked to us and we just got it in our heads that we were going to do what we needed to do to win this game."
Although FGCU's offense picked up, the Pirate defense stood strong, holding the Eagles to 29 percent shooting and 24.2 percent from beyond the arc.
The Pirates also added 10 blocks, led by senior center Tajay Ashmeade, who swatted away three.
Donovan said she is "really pleased" with her team's defensive performance.
"This is a hard style for us to defend, Donovan said. "It's a really non-traditional style for us."
The transition defense is the best indication as to the Pirates defensive performance. The Pirates had 19 turnovers, but only allowed two points off of those turnovers.
In the last ten minutes, the Eagles erased a 17 point deficit to come within four points of the lead. The Pirates held on after clutch free throws from Crew.
"We played 35 great minutes and then the last five we gave up a lot of threes," Crew said. "We just have to focus on playing forty minutes, because that's the only way that we're gunna win."
According to Crew, the team has to be smarter on offense in order to build off of this win.
"Our team did a good job recovering off those turnovers," Crew said. "But as we go on that's going to hurt us."
Donovan said that the team is confident in moving forward.
"What you saw was a very focused team that's playing really hard and together," Donovan said. "So I think that we're going to be able to build on this when we go to Army.
The Pirates will travel to West Point, N.Y. to take on the Army Black Knights on Sunday, Nov. 13. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
