"You can't spot good teams a 9-1 lead - hopefully we learned that lesson tonight." Said the obviously upset veteran coach of the Lady Cougars, Ron Welch.  "And then we compound the problem by getting outscored 7-0 to start the second half after battling back a bit in the latter part of the first half.  I thought we played with no emotion or enthusiasm at all. That's probably the most disappointing thing about the game."

The statistical battle was surprisingly close as both teams turned the ball over 26 times and got to the free throw line over thirty times.  The Lady Cougars actually got more shot attempts than the Raiders but hit only 20 of 56 shots for 35.7%.  The Cougars also out rebounded the visitors from Grand Rapids by a 39-33 margin and had 18 offensive rebounds.  GRCC shot 21 for 50  shots (42%) and were particularly deadly from 19'9", making 8 of 16 three point attempts on the night.  The Coug's were 5 of 18 and couldn't make up the 9 point deficit (24-15) from down town and that was the ball game.

“Our lack of intensity really translated into good opportunities for them - particularly in the first half when they got six of their eight threes.'' said KVCC coach Ron Welch, whose team fell out of first-place for the first time this year and drops to 14-6 overall and 5-3 in the conference. “Our play in the first halves of games has been a strength this year - but not tonight.  I almost got the feeling that we felt the game was won before we started.  After I got "T'd" up midway thru the first half, I saw a little spark for a while, but we didn't sustain it."
 
There were a couple bright spots for the Cougars.  "This game might have been the best performance of her career for Chelsea Acker."  The 6' sophomore post player recorded a double double with 12 points and 13 rebounds, plus 4 blocks and 5 steals and shot 5/7 from the floor.  "Chelsea was all over the place and played like a sophomore tonight."  Freshman guard Amber Peters was the leading scorer for the KVCC team with 15 points and 3 assists.  No one else was in double figures for the Cougars and on the other side of the ledger, Grand Rapids placed all five starters in double figures - led by Kendrick's 17. 

“Grand Rapids is a fine team, dominated by nine sophomores.” Explained the veteran coach.  “The fact that we defeated them by 20 (66-46) at their place earlier makes this even more disappointing.  I really thought we would come out with more fire.  We're a young team and we'll fight thru this adversity and grow stronger because of it.  There's a lot of character and talent on this team, but we need to play with more of a chip on their shoulder.  They say there's a lesson to be learned from every loss.  We'll see how quickly we learn."

The Cougars will try to get back on track next Wednesday night with a home game against a struggling Lake Michigan team which is 0 - 8 in conference play.  "We need a win to regain our confidence and keep pace in the conference race.  We're really still in control of our own destiny and the way this league is this year, anything could happen.  We need to take care of our own business and not worry about what the others do." Explained Coach Welch