Kalamazoo Valley Women's Basketball

February 9, 2008    KVCC (84) at Ancilla (48) at Life Plex in Plymouth, IN
 

Coach's comments: 
     Nice game.  Nice weekend of work.  The Cougars second game in sixteen hours turned out to be just what the doctor ordered.  With a relatively short bench, that got shorter when Cassie Bonzelaar rolled her ankle in her second minute on the floor,  veteran Cougar Coach Ron Welch was concerned about how much was left in the tank after a super effort in Grand Rapids the night before.  He needn't have worried.
      "Coach Gillette and I knew that this was going to be a 'character' game,"  Welch pointed out.  "We knew that Ancilla had played on the road the night before, too, and really felt that the team that showed the most mental toughness was probably gonna walk out of the gym with a smile on their face.  I'm really proud of the effort of our kids today.  The youngsters have come soooo far in terms of toughness, understanding the game and being willing to do what it takes to be successful. Sometimes a touch of adversity - like we've experienced - has that effect. Their playing like their not freshmen any more."
      "This might have been as dominating game as we have had all season." in Welch's opinion.  " In the first game after the break they beat us in every phase of the game even tho they only won 60-56.  I think this points out a tremendous improvement on the part of our players and a dedication to what it takes to compete at a high level.  We have been blessed with competitive kids in the past, but none more so than this group."
      The Cougars had little go wrong on this day. 
      "The defensive effort was outstanding considering we played on short rest." Praised Welch. "We shot the ball well (46.3% for the game and 53.1% in the second half) and played with great enthusiasm.  Jeannie Closson was pretty special today and she had a lot of help from her teammates."

                                                                     Photo by Joanne  
                                                                                            Indeed.......
                                              Closson was 10/16 from the field for 21 points and had 14 rebounds.

      In addition, the Cougars were deadly from deep as they had 7 different players score from behind the arc,  led by Shannon Dumond with three long range bombs.  Dumond ended the day with 17 points and 6 assists on 7 of 13 shooting.  Uncharacteristically, she didn't make a trip to the free throw line this day. 
     Continuing the trend of solid bench play, the Cougar bench out scored the Charger reserves 24-12 led by Mattawan's Nicole Compher with 11 and Alicia Jesnek  and Kirsten Smith chipping in with 6 and 5 respectively. Jesnek also had 4 assists and Smith grabbed 5 rebounds.  Caitlin Krull struggled a bit from the field with her only field goal of the day being a three pointer, but was again a force on the glass coming away with 10 caroms.  Jess Sanders followed up her nice showing in Grand Rapids with a solid effort and 9 points and Battle Creek freshman guard Ericka King had a very efficient 7 point, 6 rebound, 5 assist performance while only turning it over once.  The Cougars only turned it over nine times against the Chargers.

                                   
                                                       Sanders & Jesnek come to trap Ancilla's Coffer                     Photos by Joanne

      Lady Cougars continue extended streak of road contests with a trip to Lansing on Wednesday for a game against the Stars.  Game time in Gannon gymnasium on Lansing's campus is 5:30 pm.

     The balance of the schedule can be found on the schedule page of the KVCC women's basketball site.  Click on the link below for more info.



Schedule Page