Anthony Brown ’12

Sports Editor

The Lady Mustangs Varsity Basketball team got their first conference win of the season in a convincing fashion against the St. Mary’s Ryken Lady Knights.

Head Coach Gary Lee had this to say before the game,  “The game plan tonight is doing what we do best. Our transitional game is second to none. I think we’re going to wear them down in the third quarter, and you’re going to see a team that wishes they weren’t out on the floor with us because of our team speed.” When asked how well he thought the team has done after playing 11 games with a 7-4 record overall he said that the team is doing well and believes that they’re starting to understand exactly what the coaching staff wants them to do and the next step is execution.

The Lady Mustangs came out strong scoring the first 4 points of the game and played good defense. Carrie Alexander ’12 and Serena Brown ’14 combined for 9 of the Mustangs 16 points in the first quarter. The Lady Knights kept up with the Lady Mustangs and by the end of the quarter the score was tied 16 all. In the second, the Lady Mustangs were aggressive getting to the hoop, drawing fouls and making the most of their free throws. Seniors Carrie Alexander, Dreu Wilkins, and Chanice Lee helped the Mustangs build their lead with strong support from Serena Brown ’14, Dionna Joynes ’12 and Jordan Middlebrooks ’13. At halftime the Mustangs had a 15 point lead over St.Mary’s Ryken with a score of 39-24.

The Lady Knights cut the Mustangs’ lead to 8 by the end of the third quarter, which ended at 51-43. The fourth quarter was a very entertaining one with the Mustangs extending their lead to 10 at one point and the Knights battling back to try to get ahead. The game was closed out by free throws which led to a final score of 68-58 and the Mustangs getting the W. Free throws, the 3-ball and the Mustangs aggressiveness on both sides of the court helped them get the win.

Coach Gary Lee said after the game that he noticed the team was taking good and bad shots during the game but was fine with that because he knows that since they’re a fast-paced team, they’re going to take bad shots but feels they did a great job. He also said talked about freshman Kholby Oliver’s performance and how she makes three point shots in practice and games routinely and said that he definitely will use the 3-point shot more in his game plan. Following this game, the team is 8-4 overall with a 1-3 conference record.