The Charger Women's Basketball team traveled to Kankakee, Illinois, Tuesday evening, securing a 57-46 victory against Kankakee Community College and pushing their record to 6-0 overall. With the win, Marian Ancilla is now 4-0 on the road after beginning the year 2-0 as a tourney host.
The opening quarter saw the Chargers fall behind 4-0 before an 11-4 run that included 3-pointers made by Sophomore guard Nasiya Gause (2x) and Freshman guard Aaliyah Keil helped the ladies take an 11-8 advantage. They would add some free throws and finish the first 10 minutes with a 15-10 lead.
The second quarter was a bit faster paced, as there were a number of quick possessions caused by long rebounds, transition opportunities, and turnovers from both teams. At the end of the period, the Cavaliers had trimmed the Charger lead to 31-29.
After halftime, Marian Ancilla used strong team defense to separate from Kankakee, as they allowed just 6 points in the third quarter, helping themselves to head into the final stanza with a 45-35 advantage. That defensive effort continued, as the Chargers built a 53-35 lead, not allowing the Cavaliers a point until around 4:00 left in the contest. Kankakee made one last push, even scoring the final 6 points of the matchup for the final tally, 57-46. It marked the second win against an Illinois-based college this year.
The aforementioned Gause led the Chargers with 18 points, plus she added 7 rebounds and 5 steals to her stat line. Freshman forward Santana Eubanks was also in double figures with 14 points, and she added 7 rebounds and 4 steals of her own. 6-3 Freshman post Jadyn Harris had a nice game inside, scoring 9 points, collecting 8 caroms, and deterring a number of shots by Cavaliers.
"I felt like we played a solid all-around game defensively. Kankakee was prepared and well-coached, but our ladies did a nice job of taking away their strengths for most of the game," stated Charger Head Coach Ryan Gould. "Our offense is still a work-in-progress, but we are valuing possessions more often and understanding situations better, and that showed in how we played a good portion of the second half."
The Marian Ancilla Women's Basketball team will return to action this Saturday when they host Montcalm Community College for the second game in a home-and-home series. The Chargers won 83-60 at Montcalm on Friday, November 15th. Please come out to the LifePlex at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, as the Chargers try to improve their record to 7-0 overall on the season!!
