Andover Girls Varsity Basketball earned its second win this season against Phillips Exeter Academy with a score of 53-39 last Saturday at home. The team’s season record now stands at 3-13.
While the game was closely contested in the first half, Andover was able to pull away during a hard-fought second half, according to Victoria Kadiri ’20.
“We were able to make an important shift in our mindset and play starting in the second half. As a team, we know that it takes hustle plays and grit to win against Exeter, regardless of our talent level, so we really had to work to outhustle them, and succeeded,” said Kadiri.
A big part of Andover’s victory was its consistent improvement throughout the season, according to Hannah Cuff ’21.
“In past games, we have had trouble with our turnovers and fouling, and in the second half of the Exeter game, we fixed those problems. That was a huge part of our win. We definitely want to continue that in the future,” Cuff wrote in an email to The Phillipian.
“We are always working on keeping our heads high, and having a ‘next play’ mentality.
During the Exeter game, I think we really accomplished this, and we can carry those attitudes through the rest of the season. Our help defense also improved a lot, which we’d like to carry into the rest of our games,” said Kadiri.
According to Kadiri, Saturday’s game, which broke a three-game losing streak, was crucial for team morale.
Kadiri said, “Two of our wins this season have come against [Exeter], so there’s just something about when we play them that sparks a fire in us.”
Kadiri continued, “It was a really big confidence booster to get a win on Saturday. As a team, we know that we are capable of playing well when we have discipline and run our offense, and once we did those things in the Exeter game, we succeeded. Hopefully, we can use this win to create momentum throughout the rest of the season.”
“Everyone is super excited to play Exeter again during [Andover/Exeter] weekend. We can always expect a great game and it will be great to play them on our home court,” added Cuff.
Andover was scheduled to play against Tabor on Wednesday, but the game was canceled due to inclement weather. The team will face off against Pingree this Saturday and BB&N next Wednesday. Both games will be at home.
