“Well, there was no denying it was our first game and the
first competitive basketball in a long time for most of the girls on the team,”
said head coach Paul Whitt. “The reality is because of having so many girls
that are coming from soccer and volleyball this year, we only had five full
practices before tonight, while I think this was Andrews’ fifth game. It was a
good lesson and learning experience for all of us, and we know what we need to
work on.”
The Lady Pioneers got off to a slow start, struggling to
find accuracy from the field for most of the half. Meanwhile, Andrews used
their size and rebounding ability to gain a 24–15 edge on the glass to blow
open a close game with six minutes remaining in the half to run out to a 33–16
halftime advantage.The second half
settled into a more evenly matched half as Northland began to find an offensive
rhythm and use defensive pressure to get some easy baskets. However, a dismal
shooting night from the field and free throw line would be story of the night
as the home team drops to 0–1.
Northland was led in scoring by freshman Kate Matthai with twelve points, five rebounds and four steals, while junior Ellie Hodak added nine
points, three rebounds, three assists and four steals. Freshman Rebecca Newton
led the team with eight rebounds off of the bench.
“I was impressed with how aggressive we were with the
basketball, getting to the line thirty-seven times,” Whitt said. “We obviously have a lot
of work to do on our accuracy, but I know these girls can shoot. It’s a matter
of confidence, and it will come. The first and second halves were a night-and-day difference. I could see the light bulbs starting to come on, and we settled
in. I was also glad to see we could play man-to-man defense effectively against
them with all of their size. Overall, I wasn’t happy to lose, but it wasn’t too
bad considering we played seven girls who are new to the team this year.”
The Lady Pioneers travel to Chicago this week where they
take on the East Region powerhouse, Philadelphia Biblical University, on Thursday
and compete in the Midwest Region Tip-off event with games against Lincoln
Christian University on Friday and Emmaus Bible College on Saturday. All three
games will be at Moody Bible Institute.