Lady Cougars let an opportunity slip away.

Wednesday  February 14, 2007   KVCC (54) at Lansing CC (57) at Lansing, MI

         Playing 20 minutes of basketball is not enough in a 40 minute game. The Lady Cougars dropped a tough league loss to the Stars of LCC - and that lesson was not lost on them.  Looking lethargic and almost un-interested in the second half, the Cougars quickly let a five point half time lead slip away and would ultimately come up on the short end of a 57-54 score.   "We came out pretty well in the first half and built a nice little 13 point lead at 25-12." reported head Coach Ron Welch.  "But Nicole Wallace put together an impressive scoring spurt and our lead disappeared. She's a nice player, but I really felt like we lost our focus when we jumped out to the lead."  The loss dropped the Cougs into a three way tie in the conference with Grand Rapids and Kellogg. 
                                                                                               
      The Lady Cougars dominated almost every statistical catagory with more free throw point, more points off turnovers, more 3 point points, more second chance points. "Our execution against their zone wasn't very good." said Welch.  "Our ball movement and the way we attacked seemed to change from the first half to the second and I'll take responsibility for that.  It's my job to motivate them and obviously tonight I didn't do my job well enough."

                                         
                                                 Telisha Saunders came off the bench and played well for Cougars again.
                                                                                                                                                Pictures courtesy of Jill Welch

      The loss took away the opportunity for the Lady Cougars to win the conference crown outright on Friday night.  "It is a mystery to me how we seemed un-inspired and almost disinterested after halftime.  We'll be looking for players who want to play with passion at practice tomorrow." Said an obviously dis-pleased Welch after the game.

                                
      The Cougars wind up the regular season on Friday at home against the Ancilla Chargers. Game time is 5:30 pm.  "It will be Sophomore Night and I think we'll bounce back.  This team has shown the ability to do that.  I have confidence that  we will regain the bounce in our step and play well."  Commented the Cougar coach.  "Every game from here on out has definitive meaning starting with Friday.  That one gets us a share of the championship, and then we move on to MCCAA Tournament play.  Our sophomores have always responded well when placed in those type situations.  I have no reason to expect anything less."