Rowan women’s basketball defeated the Delaware Valley Aggies on Wednesday, 64-54, in their home opener at Esbjornson Gymnasium. The Profs are now 1-1 to begin their new season after falling on the road in Elizabethtown this past Sunday.

“I feel like we all had the determination to come back after the loss on Sunday,” senior Charlotte Carlies said. “The team that we lost to, they were an NCAA team … and the fact that we could compete with them, which lets us know that, you know, we can compete with anybody.” 

Junior Natalia Barrera was a top performer in her second game as a Prof, leading the team with 17 points and obtaining 10 rebounds while adding two blocks to her name. The Camden County College transfer not only amassed a double-double but was also 7-for-8 from the field.

“My confidence in my teammates, my confidence in myself, just trusting everyone, and trusting God [helped me] most of all,” Barrera said. [My teammates are] so welcoming and very trustworthy, so we’re just having fun out there.”

Carlies also achieved the first double-double of her Rowan tenure, scoring 13 points and 10 rebounds along with three swats. Barrera and Carlies made a palpable impact defensively and were beneficial on the glass as the Profs led 53 to Delaware Valley’s 39 boards.  

“Our coach, she’s always been on me about that, just like crashing the boards hard, going back up [and] having confidence in my shot,” Carlies said. “Just being able to live it out today was, like, really awesome.” 

The brown and gold never allowed the opposition to gain a lead, but Delaware Valley didn’t make it easy for the hosts. The Aggies started the first 2:30 minutes of the second quarter on a 9-2 run, but the Profs responded with an assertive 17-4 run to keep the tide in their favor.

“Even though they made runs, we made sure to kind of hold on to that lead the whole game,” head coach Kate Pearson said. “In our last game, we had to play from behind the whole time, so having the lead and being able to hold onto it was important.”

Esby Gym was a turnover factory as Rowan forced Delaware Valley to lose possession 20 times, thus creating 23 points off takeaways. The bench also lit a valuable spark for the Profs, with Barrera’s contributions at the forefront. 

“I think we have a good bench, and so we want to keep making sure we rely on our depth with that,” Pearson said. “I think we can turn some more stuff out of our press and just try to continue to get a balanced attack.”

Rowan women’s basketball will now have a week of rest before traveling to Center Valley, Pennsylvania, to take on the DeSales Bulldogs, a team the Profs defeated a season ago in Glassboro.