A hot start was not enough for the Allen Community College Lady Devils on Saturday afternoon. Despite holding a 15-point advantage after the first quarter over Barton Community College, the Cougars roared back to win 87-82.
We got stagnant, head coach Rachel Janzen said. We saw that it was 23-8, got relaxed and stopped attacking. They chipped away, did what they were supposed to do, and made it a game in the second half.
After Brandi Jordan nailed a 3-pointer from the corner, Barton called a timeout with 4:03 left in the first period as ACC began the game with a 19-2 run. The Lady Devils red-hot shooting in the first period helped them hold a 23-8 lead at the end of the first.
The momentum from ACCs stellar first quarter spilled over to start the second. Jordan and Masie Schroeder connected on back-to-back treys, to give ACC a 19-point lead, its largest of the contest.
Barton responded with a 11-0 run to cut the deficit to single digits with four minutes remaining in the period. After a layup from Ariel Walker to stop the run, Barton engineered a 7-0 run to close the quarter, and trail 31-29 at the break.
At halftime I told the girls to not settle, Janzen said. From the first quarter to second quarter we were settling for the wrong shots. Our defensive intensity dropped because they went on a little bit of a run, so I told them we need to come out with momentum.
To start the second half, Barton took up Janzens request to build momentum. A 9-0 run to start the quarter put the Cougars ahead by six, and the Lady Devils would never recover. Bartons Michelle Turney converted back-to-back 3-pointers to stretch the lead to double digits. The Lady Devils were outscored 33-16 in the third period.
After falling asleep for the two quarters, ACC awoke in the fourth. Walker fired from beyond the arc to inch ACC within nine with 4:23 remaining in the contest. After another basket from Walker, ACC trailed only by seven.
ACCs hopes were diminished when Zariah Sango picked up a technical foul that led to four successful attempts at the charity stripe for Barton. ACC would come within two points on multiple occasions, but the Cougars were clinical at the foul line down the stretch en route to a 87-82 victory.
Jordan finished as ACCs leading scorer with 30 points, converting 5/14 attempts from 3-point range. Walker scored 24 points on an efficient 9/16 from the floor.
They were unbelievable, Janzen said. Also with leadership, they have done a good job getting the girls to play together because we have had some selfishness going on, but we didnt have any of those issues tonight.
The loss makes it six defeats in a row for the Lady Devils. But with losing comes growth, and Janzen believes her Lady Devils can make things right against Butler Community College on Wednesday.
Against Northwest Tech on Wednesday, we were down 20 but we never fought back, Janzen said. So they have learned that you can make it a ball game even if you are down, you just cant quit. If that is the lesson we learned from the game, then great, because tonight we were a different team, and that is all I can ask for.
