The Marian Ancilla Women's Basketball team went back on the road for the fifth time in eight games Tuesday night, traveling to Chicago to face the 8-0 Olive-Harvey Panthers. The Chargers entered the contest with an undefeated 7-0 record of their own, so someone was going to have to suffer their first loss of the young season. The game proved to be worth the build-up, as both teams led at different points of each half, before Olive-Harvey sealed it late thanks to several trips to the charity stripe. The final, 64-57.
Marian Ancilla got out to a hot start defensively, holding the Panthers to just 6 first quarter points. But trailing 18-12 with 1:57 remaining in the first half, Olive-Harvey utilized pressure defense and the charity stripe to outscore the Chargers 8-3 to finish the half. Marian Ancilla entered the locker room up just 21-20 at intermission.
The second half saw the Chargers open with a pair of turnovers, allowing Olive-Harvey to regain a small lead. There was a lot of back & forth in the period, with the Panthers building a two-possession lead at one point. Marian Ancilla fought back and took the lead once again, however, they trailed 41-38 after three periods.
Olive-Harvey began the final quarter with a bucket to go up 43-38, before Freshman guard Annika Davis buried consecutive 3-point attempts to give the Chargers a slight 44-43 lead. But the stretch run saw a lot more back & fourth, several turnovers (by both teams), plus more free throws, and the Panthers were able to capitalized, extend their lead to as many as 9 points, and pull away for the 64-57 victory.
Davis led the Chargers with 17 points, including knocking down 4 triples, plus she added 3 rebounds and a pair of steals. Freshman forward Santana Eubanks nearly posted another double-double with 14 points and 8 rebounds, while Sophomore wing De'Mour Watson added 13 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals, 3 assists, and 2 blocked shots in 21 minutes of just her second game back from injury. Freshman guard Aaliyah Keil also played a well-balanced game, contributing 5 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals to the effort.
Head Coach Ryan Gould wasn't satisfied with the loss, but pointed out there were some good things happening throughout the game. "I felt like we set the tone defensively from the get-go. They had been regularly scoring in the 80s and 90s all season, so to limit them to just 6 first quarter points was huge. However, for as well as we played defensively, we struggled offensively, and it would have been nice to enter halftime up more than 1 point. If we could have taken advantage of more easy opportunities offensively, I think we defended well enough to win."
The Chargers take a couple of days off to enjoy the Thanksgiving break, before returning to the court Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. home matchup with Community Christian out of Michigan. That game will be a women's/men's double-header, so please come out to the LifePlex and support the Chargers, if you are able!!
