November 6, 2009
Midland College women's basketball coach Ron Jones downplayed his 400th victory with the Lady Chaparrals, but beamed about his team's effort on Thursday.
The No. 6-ranked Lady Chaps used their quickness and defense to force 30 turnovers and hold Yavapai (Ariz.) College to 31.8 percent shooting in a 75-38 blowout victory in the Tip-Off Classic at Chaparral Center.
"I thought our energy was good," said Jones, who is now 400-100 in his 15-plus seasons at MC. "I was most happy that we continued to play hard and continued to compete."
Offensively, the Lady Chaps (1-0) were led by two freshmen. Jessi Cowden led the way with 15 points, while Brittany Wilson added 13. Shooting at times was kind of spotty, but with the way MC played defensively, Jones said he wasn't too concerned.
"I never expect our offense to be too polished this early in the season," he said. "We made a lot of execution mistakes. But the thing we want to focus on is our energy and our defense. We want to make our opponent have a difficult time getting an open shot, and I think we did that for a big part of the game."
Yavapai (0-1) really struggled in the first half as the Lady Riders shot only 23.8 percent from the floor as MC scored the first 18 points of the game and took a 35-11 lead at the half.
MC's biggest lead was 69-25 late in the second half when Cowden scored a layup off one of her four steals in the game.
MC sophomore guard Lauren Mansfield, who had eight points, nine assists, five rebounds and three steals, said most of her team's offense began with its play on the defensive end.
"We put a lot of pressure on them and I think we did really well defensively," Mansfield said. "We just worked hard today and I'm happy we played as a team."
MC continues play in the Tip-Off Classic against Eastern Arizona College at 7 p.m. today.
No. 6 Midland College 75, Yavapai (Ariz.) College 38
Yavapai College (0-1): DeAndra Adsitt 2-9 0-0 5, Alyssa Olsen 1-1 0-0 3, Louise Solomon 0-1 0-2 0, Kiara January 0-3 0-0 0, Brittany Rhoades 0-0 0-0 0, Julianne Forte 4-9 3-5 12, Lerrin Cook 3-8 2-2 10, Ashley Ward 3-6 0-0 6, Kira DeMorales 1-7 2-2 2, Christine Breecher 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-44 5-11 38
Midland College (1-0): Lauren Mansfield 3-11 2-2 8, Tanica Anderson 1-2 2-5 4, Robnesha Brigham 2-4 1-2 6, Brittany Wilson 4-6 4-7 13, Jessi Cowden 7-10 0-0 15, Titiana Simmons 0-3 4-5 4, Tatiana Haynes 3-8 0-0 6, Adrie Shiels 4-6 0-0 9, Alexis Hewitt 0-0 0-0 0, Heather Sheppard 2-4 0-0 4, Patricia Bright 2-5 0-0 4, Miriam Seale 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 29-61 13-21 75
Halftime -- MC 35, YC 11. 3-point goals -- YC 5-16 (Cook 2-7, Adsitt 1-3, Olsen 1-1, Forte 1-3, January 0-2), MC 4-15 (Brigham 1-2, Wilson 1-1, Cowden 1-3, Shiels 1-2, Mansfield 0-2, Simmons 0-2, Haynes 0-2, Anderson 0-1,). Total fouls --YC 19, MC 12. Fouled out -- None. Rebounds -- YC 32 (DeMorales 6), MC (Mansfield 5). Asssits -- YC 10 (Adsitt 4), MC 18 (Mansfield 9). Turnovers -- YC 30, MC 17. Steals -- YC 7 (Forte 2), MC 14 (Cowden 4).
Next: Eastern Arizona at Midland College, Chaparral Center, 7 p.m. today
Lady Chap Tip-Off Classic
Today-Saturday
All games at Chaparral Center
Thursday's Scores
Odessa College 63, Jacksonville College 57
Howard College 72, Eastern Arizona College 55
Midland College 75, Yavapai (Ariz.) College 38
Today's Games
3 p.m.: Jacksonville College vs. Howard College
5 p.m.: Yavapi College vs. Odessa College
7 p.m.: Eastern Arizona College vs. Midland College
Saturday's Games
1 p.m.: Howard College vs. Yavapi College
3 p.m.: Odessa College vs. Eastern Arizona College
5 p.m.: Midland College vs. Jacksonville College