The Marian Ancilla Women's Basketball team came into the season with the hopes of improving upon last year's 12-14 record, and this past weekend they got started off on the right foot, hosting the inaugural Charger Classic at the LifePlex in Plymouth. Friday evening, the Chargers took on Lincoln Trail College (IL), defeating the Statesmen, 81-78. Saturday afternoon they played MCCAA Northern Division foe Delta College, winning that matchup 70-64. Overall, the Chargers showed a lot of promise and made a number of explosive plays defensively, helping them in each game.
Friday, versus Lincoln Trail, Marian Ancilla had their hands full with an undersized, but quick, fast, and feisty group of guards who played extremely hard and aggressive. The Chargers spent some time looking like they were "feeling it out" in the first half, maybe a little nervous with it being their first game, so they looked just a little slow compared to the Statesmen. They entered the locker room at halftime trailing, 43-38.
To begin the second half, however, the Chargers came out aggressive defensively, made some shots offensively, and won the third period, 25-16, to take a 4-point lead into the 4th. There were a few opportunities to close out Lincoln Trail in the final stanza, but fouls began to mount for Marian Ancilla causing constant substitutions, plus the Chargers couldn't utilize the free throw line to their advantage, and the Statesmen remained within a possession or two until the end.
Freshman guard Annika Davis (22 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists) led the Chargers in scoring on 8-16 shooting and 4-8 from 3-point range. Sophomore guard Nasiya Gause (15 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists) and 6-3 Freshman post Jadyn Harris (10 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocked shots) each posted double-doubles in support, while Freshman forward Santana Eubanks (12 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals) also scored in double figures. Lincoln Trail was led by Laniya Richardson (22 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists) and Jaida Gomez (21 points, 4 steals).
Saturday was a different matchup in Delta, as the Pioneers brought more size, strength, and physicality, but they also played with athleticism and toughness throughout. The Chargers came out on fire, leading 14-2 early in the 1st quarter. They maintained a 23-12 advantage at the end of the quarter and a 42-27 lead in the locker room at halftime. Marian Ancilla was in a position to strike early in the third and potentially extend their lead to 20 points or more.
But Delta came out in the second half with a renewed energy and aggressiveness. They were much more assertive defensively, and the Chargers went through a 10-minute stretch between the third and fourth quarters where they struggled to find offense. Down the stretch, though, the Freshman combination of Santana Eubanks and Aaliyah Keil made several big plays (and steals) defensively, while Sophomore Nasiya Gause made some tough shots inside the arc for Marian Ancilla to hold off the Pioneers and close out the victory.
The Freshman Eubanks (10 points, 10 rebounds, 10 steals) posted the rare triple-double to lead Marian Ancilla. Freshman guard Annika Davis (21 points, 6 rebounds) got hot in the first half and led the Chargers in scoring, while Gause wasn't far behind (20 points, 2 steals). Keil also had a nice stat line of 8 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals. Kayla Howell (15 points) and Jaelyn Ayala (14 points) were the top scorers for the Pioneers.
Charger Head Coach Ryan Gould had a variety of things, good and bad, to point to following the weekend. "First, I want to thank everyone who made this weekend possible. It takes several people, and from all four schools involved (Marian Ancilla, Delta, Lincoln Trail, Macomb), to make a weekend tournament like this run smoothly." As for his team's play, "we showed some exciting flashes of our potential and where we can go this season, but we also showed some areas we need a lot of work. Obviously, we can't shoot under 50% from the free throw line, especially when trying to hold leads. We also have a somewhat young team that likes to play fast, but I felt like we learned some lessons this weekend about changing tempo and understanding situations a little better. All-in-all it was a good weekend, and we picked up a pair of wins against two tough, hard-working teams, so we will take it."
The Marian Ancilla Women's Basketball team has a couple of days to prepare for their first road trip, as they head to Macomb Wednesday to play the only team from this weekend they didn't match up against. Tip time is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., so please come out and support the ladies, if you are able to make the trip!!
