Lady Saints Bigs Too Much For Upstart Trojans
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Colby Community College (8-7, 1-1) | 25 | 31 | 56 |
|
Seward County Community College (13-1, 1-0) | 31 | 34 | 65 |
A shorthanded Seward County Lady Saints squad responded to their first defeat of the season quite well Monday night in the Greenhouse as they took on Colby in their Jayhawk West Conference opener, getting double-doubles from both Tamara Seda and Axelle Bernard on the inside to outlast an upstart Lady Trojans bunch 65-56 to improve to 13-1 overall on the season.
Inside of an abnormally cold Greenhouse, the Lady Saints came out ice cold on Monday as Colby jumped out to a 6-0 and 9-2 lead on the gals in green. Back to back buckets by Tamara Seda and Daniela Galindo got Seward back into things, but before they knew it, their deficit had grown to 20-11 with 10:21 to go in the first half. A 7-0 run out of the media timeout got the Lady Saints to within two and a deep three pointer by Rebekah Hatchard gave Seward their first lead of the night at 21-20 with 6:39 left in the half. Colby quickly tied the game back up, but a 8-2 Lady Saints jaunt to finish the half gave Seward a 31-25 lead into the halftime break.
Seward forced 11 Colby first half turnovers and held the Lady Trojans to just 27% shooting from the field while finishing the half shooting 33% themselves. The Lady Saints were led by Seda and Axelle Bernard on the inside in the first period as the two combined for 14 points and 17 rebounds against a much smaller Colby front line.
The Lady Saints wasted no time in extending their lead as the second half began as Galindo canned a three and Hatchard picked up a steal and score to quickly give Seward their largest lead to that point in the night at 36-25 just one minute into the period. The pesky Trojans just wouldn't go away though and cut Seward's lead all the way down to four just moments later after getting three chances on their end of the floor after a pair of offensive rebounds. After a Lady Saints timeout, Seward pushed their advantage back to double digits on a 6-0 run and Colby never threatened again. The Trojans cut the Seward lead to nine on a pair of occasions in the final 10 minutes, but the Lady Saints presence in the paint was just too much for Colby. Seward pounded the ball inside to Seda and Bernard before finishing Colby off at the free throw line to come away with a 65-56 win.
It was an off shooting night for both sides as Seward shot 35% overall and Colby managed just 31% in the contest. The Trojans hoisted up 43 three point attempts, making 7 per half, good for a 33% performance, while the Lady Saints remained in a shooting slump, going just 2 for 19 from deep following a 1 for 17 effort Monday in their loss to #11 Salt Lake. Four of the eight Lady Saints that saw action scored in double figures in the win, led by Galindo's 15 and Hatchard's 14. Seda and Bernard posted double-doubles in the same game for the first time this season as Seda had 13 points and matched her career high with 18 rebounds while Bernard scored 10 and had 11 boards. With her 18 rebounds, Seda becomes the first Seward player in program history to record 18 or more rebounds twice in the same season.
The Lady Saints bounce back with win number 13 to improve to 13-1 on the year while taking their Jayhawk West opener for the fourth straight year. Coming off of their first conference win in 18 tries, the Lady Trojans fall back to 1-1 in league action and 8-7 overall on the year.
Seward will now go on the road for the first time in Jayhawk West play on Wednesday as they go to the always tough Beaverdome on Wednesday night to take on Pratt at 6:00. They return home Saturday night against a struggling Cloud County squad on Hall of Fame Night in the Greenhouse.