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Last Friday's St. Joseph Notre Dame (SJND) women's basketball game had all the elements for a great senior night. The gym was packed with students, faculty and parents of SJND players. SJND honored seniors Samantha Maritzen, Jessica De Mesa and Alexis Perez before the game, and the SJND crowd was cheering on their team throughout the game. However, one problem interfered with the joyous occasion: the game.

SJND was no match for St. Mary's suffocating defense, and the Panthers won convincingly 61-34 at the SJND Pilots' home gym. The Panthers imposed their will early on with their full court press defense. The Pilots turned the ball over before they could reach half court on their first four possessions of the game resulting in three St. Mary's lay-ups.

"They did different things with their press," said SJND women's basketball head coach Chris Pondok. "We practiced against it, but it's much different when you face it in a game."

The Panthers scored 13 unanswered points to start the game. SJND guard Desiree Harris broke the Pilots scoreless streak with a lay-up at the 5:12 mark in the first quarter.

Turnovers were a big factor in the game for the Pilots. The Panthers forced the Pilots to commit 10 turnovers in the first quarter, which resulted in 12 points for St. Mary's.

Another big factor in the game was the height disparity between the two teams. The Panthers were able to use their size to grab one offensive rebound after another for easy put-back baskets throughout the game.

The Pilots did manage to show some fight in the second quarter, outscoring the Panthers 12-10 in the period. Harris led the charge for the Pilots in the quarter scoring nine of her team-leading 18 points in the period. However, the third quarter belonged to St. Mary's as the Pilots started the period on a 17-2 run.

The Pilots were outscored 29-15 in the second half to bring the final tally to 61-34. Though the season did not end the way he wanted it to, Pondok was proud of the way his team played throughout the season and owes a lot of thanks to his three seniors.

"Words don't describe how proud I am of this team," said Pondok as he fought back tears. "This was my first year as head coach and the seniors were very welcoming to me and I think that's why we clicked so well early on." The Lady Pilots ended their season with a 16-9 overall record and an 8-5 Bay Shore Athletic League record.

The Pilots are likely to play in the North Coast Section Division 5 playoffs, where they are currently in eighth place among Division 5 teams.