Issue date: 11/23/09 Section: Sports

PUC was hard pressed to score points against #7 St. Xavier on Nov. 21, losing 110-64.

For the first eight minutes, the Lady Peregrines hung with the Lady Cougars, who are ranked seventh in the nation, but it did not take long for St. Xavier to pull away.

Three-point field goals were abundant for the Cougars, who made 60 percent of their shots. The Cougars forward, senior Erin Hannemann, made six out of seven 3-point shots.

Lady Peregrines Coach Tom Megyesi was proud of his girls' effort on the court.

"St. Xavier's a very good team. They played hard and we, someday, hope to be at their level of competition," Megyesi said.

Guard MeMe Harris, a junior majoring in medicine, led the Peregrines in scoring with 16 points. Forward Amanda Gaskin, a freshman majoring in criminal justice, pulled down 10 rebounds.

Down by 19 after the first half, Megyesi made a change to a half-court press defense. It was an attempt by PUC to create turnovers after the Lady Cougars inbounded the ball, but St. Xavier did not have much of a problem breaking it. According to Megyesi, the press was an attempt to get back in the game.

"We weren't quitting," Megyesi said.

Both teams played scrappy defense. With only five minutes left, the Peregrines tried to make up a 15 point deficit with aggressive play.

Sophomore guard Nicci Desimone, was up for the task, but the Cougars coaching staff were not very appreciative of her efforts.

St. Xavier assistant Andy Shaw, while sitting on the Cougar bench, commented during the game that Desimone was "playing like a dirty dog."

"I was kind of playing over-aggressive, but they were all over me on the defense," Desimone, a sociology major, said.

According to Desimone, the Peregrines showed a lot of hustle and played hard, but there needs to be improvement on speed and rebounding.

Desimone finished the game with five points, two rebounds and one steal in 23 minutes she played.

After the loss, the Lady Peregrines fell to an over-all record of 2-4.

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