It's been 12 years since the Central Christian Women's Basketball team was able to find the win column on opening night, in fact it was October 29
th, 2012, when a Tiger team opened the season at 1-0. That streak has come to an end with a gritty 59-48 win against the Randall University Saints at Alexander Arena on Thursday night. Coach
Brad Willems in his 2
nd season as Head Coach at Central has put together a tough group of players that forced 22 Saints turnovers, and exploded for 20 points in the 4
th quarter to move to 1-0 on the season.
Both teams came out at a blistering pace, each scoring 10 points in the 1
st 3 minutes. Hot shooting by
Hallee Winsea, scoring the 1
st five points of the game, but Randall would answer every shot. Pace slowed down to a 16-16 tie at the end of one, with a thrilling 3 pointer at the buzzer by
Kayla Hall, who came off the bench and put in quality minutes scoring 10 points on the night for the Tigers. The Tigers were able to get a 7 point lead on the Saints early in the 2
nd quarter, but the Saints would not go away. A fierce 12-4 run to end the quarter put the Saints in the lead 30-29 at the Half.
The 2
nd half, the Tigers would strike 1
st with a Cristina Louden shot, but Randall answered with a 3 from Saylee Smith, in a 14 point night, but a personal 5-0 run by
Chloe Clevenger put the Tigers back up front. And true to a Cross Country Runner, the longer the game went, Clevenger got stronger, scoring 5 points in the 3
rd and another 8 in the 4
th, to score a team high 15 points, and record 11 rebound to record a double-double in her 1
st game as a Tiger.
The Saints would lead going into the 4
th 40-39, but the Tiger Defense was able to create turnovers and convert those turnovers to points, as the Tigers outscoring the Saints 20-8 in the final frame. Two Winsea Free Throws, a 3 point play by Clevenger, and a Winsea 3 pointer, her 3
rd of the game to match Clevenger with 15 points on the game looked to be the swing the Tigers needed. Again, the Saints would not go away, but a driving layup of the left side by Hall, and 2 buckets by Clevenger and the tigers were able to grow to a 10 point lead, one they held to the end to win 59-48.
Tiger Leaders:
Points:
Chloe Clevenger (15),
Hallee Winsea (15)
Rebounds:
Chloe Clevenger (11)
Assists:
Chloe Clevenger (2),
Hallee Winsea (2), Cristian Loudan (2)
Steals:
Chloe Clevenger (3), Cristina Loudan (3)
Blocks:
Chloe Clevenger (2)
Coaches Quote:
"Randall is a very disciplined and well coached team. Plus they shot almost 50%. I don't think we played the best we can, but we continued to play hard and I saw some very good moments. I really liked out effort. We will continue to improve each day. I really like our group and I'm excited about the direction we are going!"
-Coach Willems
Next Up:
The Tigers (1-0) continue play in the Classic for Christ tournament Saturday against Sterling College (0-0). Tip is set for 5pm at the Alexander Arena. The game can also be seen on the SAC Sports Network.
