Lady Devils down Green River to keep pace in division
Sunday, February 3, 2008 7:08 AM PST
By Rick McCorkle
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E-mail this articleIt was an ugly game with too many turnovers and fouls, but Lower Columbia College coach Chad Meadors didn’t mind.
“We set the tone with the full-court pressure that kind of jump-started us,” Meadors said. “We’ve been working on it all week, and it will get better.”
A total of 50 fouls were whistled, and both teams combined for 58 turnovers as LCC stretched a 13-point halftime lead into a 30-point bulge en route to a 62-45 win over Green River in NWAACC Western Division women’s basketball at Truman Myklebust Gym on Saturday.
LCC has won nine of its last 10 games, and remains tied with Centralia and South Puget Sound atop the division standings at 8-1, 15-5 overall. Green River fell to 3-7 in league.
The Lady Devils turned up first-half tempo to near-frenzy pace as they attempted to run the Gators ragged. But in the process, they also increased their foul and turnover totals. LCC was whistled for 14 of its 32 fouls in the first half.
“We forced the issue tempo-wise, but we fouled too many times and reached a lot, which put them on the line,” Meadors said. “We could’ve held them to 2-3 points in the first half if we didn’t put them on the line so many times. We also gave up seven offensive rebounds, which they turned into four points.”
Green River made four of its 21 shots in the first half (19 percent), and converted on 7-of-17 free throws. LCC didn’t shoot much better in the half with 29 percent (11-of-37) and 40 percent free-throw shooting (4-of-10).
“It would’ve been a lot different score if we’d shot the ball better in the first half,” Meadors said. “We got some good looks, but they didn’t fall. As long as they’re in range and on-balance, we let them shoot those shots.”
The Devils upped their offensive output to 33 percent in the second half (11-of-33), which still exceeded the play of the Gators with 9-of-32 shots for 32 percent.
LCC also forced 32 turnovers and made 14 steals.
“I knew they lacked ball-handlers, and we could pressure them and pick them up full-court and run them around,” Meadors said. “I knew they were lacking players (seven) and depth would be a factor. I wanted to push them and get them to the point where they were fatigued and make mistakes.”
Every LCC player had at least five minutes of court time, and 11 of the 13 Lady Devils scored in the balanced attack. Katie Garcin knocked down three 3-pointers en route to a game-high 17 points and eight rebounds.
Holly Weston tossed in eight points, Kelsey Forrest and Rene’e Evans grabbed nine and eight rebounds, respectively, and Jessi Hanna dished four assists and made four steals.
“We had the offense and defense together once this season against Centralia,” Meadors added. “In order to beat teams like that, we have to play both ends of the court consistently.”
Lady Devils 62, Gators 45
GREEN RIVER (45) — Kelsy Fedak 18, Rachel Fields 8, Megan Borjesson 3, Whitney Valenta 0, Saundrea Polk 0, Samantha Harrison 15, Tamika Palmer 1.
LOWER COLUMBIA (62) — Katie Garcin 17, Holly Weston 8, Heidi Jackson 6, Jessi Hanna 5, Nadra Evans 3, Kelsey Forrest 6, Jordan Budd 5, Kristina Craft 4, Megan Holmes 3, Renee Evans 3, Kourtney Craft 2, Kasey Craft 0, Shelby Junkman 0.
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