Bartlett towers over Benet
Bartlett utilized its height advantage Tuesday night against Benet.
The Hawks won the battle of the boards by a 48-22 advantage and pulled out a 64-58 win at Benet. The Hawks start three girls taller than 5-foot-11, while the Redwings start only one player 5-11 or taller.
Bartlett (16-8) shot 19 of 53 from the field but was able to capitalize with putbacks and limit Benet's possessions.
"I thought we didn't shoot the ball the best tonight, but our rebounding really helped ease the pain for us," said Bartlett coach Denise Sarna, whose team won its seventh straight. "We were really focusing on boxing out tonight."
The Hawks had two players reach double digits in points and rebounds. Jacki Gulczynski 13 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, and Christina Carlson chipped in with 11 points and 16 rebounds.
"We really took advantage of our size tonight and we did a good job putting a body on them in missed shots," Carlson said. "Benet kept hustling and they were able to drive on us and make some plays. Fortunately for us we rebounded well and were able to take advantage tonight."
The game was a back-and-forth affair as both teams made runs. In the first half Benet used a 14-2 run late in the first half to jump out to a 3-point halftime lead. But Bartlett made a 10-0 run early in the second half that Benet could not bounce back from. After that run the Redwings couldn't get within 5 points the rest of the game.
"That run was the difference in the game," Benet coach Peter Paul said. "We had difficulty bringing the ball up the court and gave them some easy baskets. We were not able to rebound from the run."
The Hawks also excelled at free-throw shooting in the fourth quarter. Bartlett shot 12 of 13 in the final period, including making its first 12 attempts.
"We work on free-throw shooting all the time in practice," Carlson said. "If we don't shoot 70 percent in practice, we run. I guess that paid off for us tonight."
Benet (13-10) was led in scoring by Danielle Canulli, who had a game-high 21 points in the loss.