Basketball is a game of runs.

On what was a special day for the Women’s basketball squad, they delivered a convincing win 71-54 win over Alleghany.

Brittany Atkinson ‘18 led the scoring attack with 17 points. Allison Schafer ‘20 finished with a double double, scoring 14 points and hauling in 10.

Lauren Turner ‘20 pitched in 10 points to go along with 4 rebounds off the bench. Lauren Longbrake had 11 points and 2 steals, also off the bench.

While the game remained close during the first quarter, it was Atkinson’s 11 second quarter points that allowed the Big Red to take control.

They won the quarter 32-14 after starting the period on a 13-4 run.

Prior to the game, they honored their lone senior, Atkinson. She has had an incredible four year career, and is the team’s second leading scorer this season.

But perhaps the biggest impact she has had is as a leader. Zyah Beal ‘21 spoke about the impact Brittany has had on the team.

“Brittany helped me realize that I might have a long ways ahead of me but time flies by, and I need to take advantage of every moment because you don’t know what could happen,” Beal said.

Beal also spoke about some of the traditions the team has for their seniors.

“[It] is a tradition. The team makes a video for the seniors of us just being silly and having a great time dancing to music… what made this video so special is everyone on the team created a poem for Brittany because she loves writing poetry,” Beal said. “Along with the video of photos of Brittany while she was growing up… it was absolutely adorable.”

Clearly, Atkinson will be missed off the court, but she definitely will be missed on it as well.

She is the team’s second leading scorer at 11.0 points per game. The underclassmen on the team will need to step up and fill the gap she is leaving behind.

“The team will have to work extra hard to continue Brittany’s scorer mentality,” Beal said.

The team has one game left, at home against Hiram on Wednesday, February 14th.

Come out and support Brittany and the squad as she plays her last game in a Big Red uniform!