Thomas Walter

Senior Writer

The 1000th game in program history ended with the women’s basketball team dropping its season opener to Pittsburgh 66-51 in Pittsburgh.

The Bison fell behind early and could not claw their way back against a tough Panthers squad. Audrey Dotson ’15 opened up her junior campaign with an impressive 23 points on 9-14 shooting and 14 rebounds to build on her strong sophomore season.

“Even though we lost against Pitt, I think our whole team is really excited about the rest of the season. We walked away from that game knowing that we have some things we need to work on before our next game, but all of the adjustments we need to make are totally fixable,” Dotson said. “We’re definitely going to keep pushing ourselves in practice to continue getting better for upcoming games.”

After losing Lindsay Horbatuck ’13 in May, the Bison will need to focus heavily on defending the glass this season. Dotson, the only proven forward returning, will be asked to lead the Bison assault on the glass.

“Lindsay Horbatuck was such a tough player and she is definitely missed. Her ability to dominate the boards is a gap that we are going to have to fill this year,” Dotson said. “Lindsay also had such a strong presence in the post, which is another area in which I am working to get better.”

The Panthers gathered an early 16-6 lead, and even though the Bison defense stifled Pittsburgh for several long periods of play, the Bison trailed by 13 at halftime. The Orange and Blue came out strong in the second half behind a pair of free throws by Dotson and a shot by Micki Impellizeri ’15 to cut the Panthers’ lead to nine, but the Bison never gained the lead.

Co-captain Shelby Romine ’14 netted eight points and had eight rebounds. Dotson, the other co-captain, was honored with the title earlier this season.

“My personal goal this season is to help lead the team as well as I possibly can. I’m honored that the team chose me as a co-captain, along with Shelby Romine, and we both take our roles very seriously,” Dotson said. “Whether it is cheering on my teammates or leading by example, I hope to help push the team to win a Patriot League Championship and achieve our true potential.”

The Bison have two major road games coming up. They will face Virginia Tech on Nov. 17, followed by a match against Penn State on Nov. 20.