"Impressive!" said a pleased Coach Welch.  "But there's always stuff to work on......we did little wrong in the first half and probably came as close as we have all season to playing 40 minutes of solid basketball.  We played with some emotion and enthusiasm against a team that three weeks ago stunned us with a 73-67 loss at their house.  Obviously motivation was not a problem in this contest.  We never talk about revenge - that's playing for the wrong reason - but the goal is always to go out and play well and I think we did that today."

     The Cougars bottled up the volatile Quiana Njoku (15.1 ppg and 8.7 rpg) inside and pressured the shooters as they held the visiting Chargers to 15 first half points while executing on all cylinders offensively, scoring a whopping 46 points.  "Chelsea Acker only scored 2 points but as far as I'm concerned she was one of the primary difference makers today."  praised Coach Welch.  "She does so many little things and covers up team defensive errors so well - she makes everyone else better defensively."  Acker certainly was a force for the Lady Coug's but she wasn't the whole story.  Time after time when Acker took away one avenue, another Valley teammate was there to challenge the shot or take the next lane away.  "Our team defensive concept was very good today." continued Welch.  "I'm kind of a defensive minded coach and it's a source of pride for me the way we're defending at this point in the season."  The KVCC Ladies held the Chargers top three scorers to a combined 15 points on 6 for 23 shooting.

     The Kalamazoo team roared out to a 19-5 lead with just over six minutes gone in the first half and continued to build the lead thru out the game with solid defensive play and aggressiveness at the offensive end.  Watervliet freshman, Kim Gear, continued her excellent play with 18 big points to lead the Cougars, plus nine rebounds.  Another southwest Michigan product, post player Kate Whittaker of Niles, chipped in with 16 - her season high - off the bench, but the most consistent performance of the night may have been Whittaker's high school teammate, Amber Peters.  "Amber was special tonight, no doubt about it."  said an enthusiastic Welch after the game.  "She, like everyone else, was determined that we were not going to have an outcome like we had down at Ancilla."  Peter's stat line was just short of spectacular with 11 points(on 3/3 shooting from behind the arc and 2/3 from the FT Line), 10 rebounds, 4 assists (with only one turnover) and 2 steals.  

     "Everyone played and everyone played well so it's kind of hard to single out only a few people that contributed.  This was an excellent team effort from the opening tip."  Gushed the happy Cougar coach.  "We had three in double figures but had two more with 9 points (Betsey Dennis and Amy Millard - both off the bench) and another two with 8 points (Starters Kortni Matteson and Kendra Kutz).  We're kinda hard to deal with when we clickin' on all cylinders."

     The local ladies won the war on the boards by a 50-45 count and took care of the ball very well, only turning it over 13 times.  "We preach defense, rebounding and push the ball hard." said Welch.  "We had some special moments passing the ball tonight - several highlight tape moments - and it seems that we have all bought into the saying that 'it's amazing what a team can accomplish if no one cares who gets the credit'. Sophomore Jamie Munting (Mattawan)made some awesome passes this afternoon, on a day when her shot wasn't falling and she had picked up a couple of questionable foul calls.  She could have bagged it, but kept battling and made some great plays doing something for someone else.  I was proud of her!" 
     The Cougar's bench again was a huge factor, producing a whopping 42 points.  "I was again pleased with our bench today, not just because they scored, but because of their approach to their role on this team.  They defended and rebounded and did the little things that ultimately make you successful."  Said Welch.  "

     The KVCC coach, whose team improved to 18-6 overall and 9-3 (tie 2nd) in the conference, won their fourth in a row and appear to be peaking at the right time. “We play at Glen Oaks on Wednesday and must really maintain the workmanlike attitude and approach that I saw again tonight so that the game on Friday has some meaning.  I feel strongly that we can compete with anyone and I'm confident we'll perform well.  We'll just take care of our own business and see what happens." Welch explained.