Kalamazoo Valley Women's Basketball

November 17, 2006    KVCC (74) vs. St. Clair County C. C.(54) at Port Huron, MI

     After a slow start and struggling offensively for the first 14 minutes of the game, the Lady Cougars went on a  nice run to finish the first half on a solid note and take a 16 point lead into the locker room at halftime.  The home-standing Lady Skippers of SC4 employed an aggressive 1-3-1 zone defense and it gave the Cougars some trouble - particularly early on. "A very nice coaching move by Coach Loher." complimented Coach Welch.  "We were in no way prepared for their trapping 1-3-1 and it gave us fits for most of the first half.  I also think the effects of a two week lay-off showed in our play - particularly in our shooting."
      Half time adjustments were made and the Cougars came out strong at the beginning of the second stanza, fueled by a continued emphasis on defense and the sharp shooting of sophomore Charity Knight.  "We knew that our "D" was decent and had kept us in the game in the first half but we had to do a better job at the offensive end to really take control.  I thought, for kind of doing it on the fly, that the kids really executed the adjustment in our zone offense and it opened up some wide open looks for some very good  shooters." explained Welch.
       Indeed.  The Cougar lead expanded to 25 as Knight nailed triples on three straight possessions and the lead was never less than a 20 point margin the rest of the evening.
       A strong showing by a gal who struggled mightily in the team's first couple games also was pointed out by Welch.  "Jealyn Foston's a very strong player and wasn't playing with the energy and enthusiasm that she needs to, but that changed this weekend and she was one of our leaders tonight.  I was real pleased with her effort."
       Kate Whittaker also played well coming off the bench and leading the team with 9 rebounds - seven of those in the second half.  She got into foul trouble early and sat most of the first half, but recovered nicely in the second.

       The Cougars dressed 14 players and all 14 scored as the bench really showed strong matching the starters out put with 37 bench points.  "Our strength is our depth." said Welch.  "We didn't shoot it very well tonight (34.9%), but we were able to force some turnovers and got enough shots so it wasn't a factor."