Lady Cougars romp for 21st win.

Saturday  February 10, 2007   KVCC (82) vs. Lake Michigan College (47) at Kalamazoo. MI

         These are the kinds of games you worry about if your a coach.  Coming off an emotional road win over a quality opponent and facing a team that had only tasted victory once in the conference.  How are the players going to approach the game?  You need the win, but you don't want anyone to get hurt.  You hope that you'll be able to play some kids that haven't seen the floor in a while.  The Cougars answered all those questions and took care of business on Saturday, sprinting out to a 13-0 lead before the Indians got on the scoreboard.  "We came out very strong and focused on the job at hand." commented head Coach Ron Welch.  "We played well against the game in the first half especially. (The Cougars ran to a 50-20 lead at half time). The win keeps us on top in the Western conference with an 10-2 record, but probably just as  important was the fact that we were able to get a lot of kids some time today."  The Cougars had 14 players in double figures for minutes in their 21st win on the season and maintained their one game lead in the conference.  The win also moved the overall record to a sparkling 21-2.
                                                                                               
      Behind Charity Knight's very efficient 19 points in 20 minutes the Cougars dominated the Indians in every statistical catagory, but she had a lot of help from her teammates as all but one of the Cougars scored and the bench contributed 38 points to the rout. A very focused Kim Gear added 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks in 17 minutes while Jealyn Foston had 'perfect 7 points and 7 rebounds in 14 minutes.  Freshman Shannon Dumond also added 7 points and 5 rebounds.  Amber Peters continued her excellent play with 10 rebounds (to lead the Cougars) and 3 assists. Kendra Kutz had a tough shooting day but lead the Cougars in assists with four. "Our execution against their zone was very good." said an impressed Welch.  "Our ball movement was pretty good today - we made the next pass quite well."  The Cougars forced 28 turnovers before the lead reached 75-33 with 7:48 left in the game and outrebounded  the outmanned Indians 52-33 on the night.

                                         
                                                 Telisha Saunders has played well off bench for Cougars
                                                                                                                                                Pictures courtesy of Jill Welch

      The charity stripe which was a point of concern at Muskegon was an area of strength against Lake Michigan as the Cougars shot 17/20 (85%) for the day.  "It looks like we're back on track at the free throw line." said an obviously pleased Welch after the game.

                                
      The Cougars hit the road again as League play continues traveling to Lansing on Wednesday to take on the Stars. Game time is 5:30 pm.  "We must continue to maintain our focus and approach each game in a business like manner."  Commented the Cougar coach.  "Each game will have a play off atmosphere and will impact the seeding for the MCCAA tournament, not to mention our chances of a league championship."