Lady ‘Cats win seven of nine, end drought against Lady Lakers in convincing fashion

After some rough luck in their 3-3 start to the season, including two 2-point losses, the Lady Bobcats basketball team found its stride over the holiday break, having won seven of their last nine.

On Monday, Jan. 19, the team played its first home game of the spring semester, and put on a show for the fans in the Centennial Center. The opponent was the Clayton State University Lady Lakers, who have historically owned the Lady Bobcats. CSU had won seven in a row against GCSU, and 11 of the last 12. Clayton’s No. 17 ranking suggested that this game would not be the opportunity to end that streak, but the Lady Bobcats had other ideas.

In the first half, the Lady Bobcats went up early and held the Lady Lakers at arm’s length for the remainder of the period, and headed to the locker room up by eight.

GCSU left Clayton no chance in the second half, running away from the Lady Lakers to win by 25. The Lady Bobcat defense held CSU to 27 percent shooting for the game, including just 11 percent from three-point range. Combined with this defensive effort was 50 percent second-half shooting by the Lady Bobcat offense, a recipe for a blowout in any game.

Senior guard Emily Bixler came off the bench with senior starting forward Tiauna Brantley in foul trouble, and put in 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including 5-of-6 from the line, and missed a double-double by just one rebound.

“I’ve been waiting four years for this win,” Bixler said.

Head Coach John Carrick reflected on the win over a ranked opponent.

“This gives us confidence. Confidence is fragile, and right now we got it. It’s my job to keep it,” Carrick said. “This team is good. We can win this whole thing.”

Sophomore guard Dominique Huffin also had 16 points to tie for the team lead. She explained the Lady Bobcats’ preparation for the CSU game.

“We did a lot of shooting, and worked on breaking the press,” Huffin said. “We also worked on teamwork and playing as one.”

Sophomore sharpshooting guard Mandi Dudish attempted seven shots, all from behind the arc, hitting three, and finished with 13 points and five rebounds.

Carrick saw a different Lady Bobcat team than he watched in the last matchup with the Lady Lakers.

“We didn’t have that confidence I mentioned,” Carrick said. “We were hesitant before, and we weren’t tonight. We shot 50 percent in the second half. That’s incredible.”

The Lady Bobcats’ next home game will be Saturday, Jan. 24 at 2 p.m. against another ranked opponent, the No. 19 University of South Carolina at Aiken Lady Pacers. GCSU has shown that they have the talent and ability to play with the best teams in the conference, but they have not had the consistency of a championship-caliber squad.

“Time to go back to work,” Bixler said. “Enjoy the win, tomorrow’s a new day.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Jan 23 2009. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry