The Alma Women's Basketball team entered Saturday afternoon's league-opener frustrated. They had yet to record a victory during the young season, despite being very competitive.
Fortunes changed, however, as the Scots defeated MIAA rival Adrian College by a score of 69-67 to make them 1-0 in the league and 1-6 overall in 2009-10. The Bulldogs fell to 3-2 on the year and 1-1 in the MIAA.
Today marked the initial win for first-year Head Coach Keisha Brown. She joined the Scots this summer, after a great stint at Sacred Heart High School in Mt. Pleasant, where she coached boys basketball. As much as the win meant for her, she wanted nothing to do with personal accolades after the game.
"It's nice to get the monkey off our backs. The kids have worked so hard day in and day out, and as a coach I have asked a lot of them," said Brown. "To get the first win and for the team to feel that the hard work has paid off, that is what I am excited about."
The game started slow as both teams struggled with their shooting, but Alma scored the first basket and led 11-5 with 13:34 left in the first half. The Scots maintained a lead had a five point advantage with 5:55 remaining, when Adrian went on an 11-0 run over the next 3:11, to take a 28-22 lead. The teams exchanged baskets until the end of the half. The Bulldogs took a 32-29 lead into the break.
As expected, the second half was tight all the way through. Adrian had a 42-41 advantage until Sr. G Lacey Best-Rowden (Lansing, MI/Waverly) hit a three-pointer to give the Scots a 44-42 lead at the 13:25 mark. Alma did not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the game, although that was not easy for the home team.
Best-Rowden gave the Scots their biggest lead of the day at 59-52, when she put in a lay-up with 7:20 left in the game. Adrian did not quit and kept coming at the Scots, but the closest they could come was 67-65 with 16 seconds remaining.
Fr. G Danielle Hicks (Marshall, MI/Marshall) showed freshman poise however and drained two free throws after being fouled on the inbounds pass. The Bulldogs hit a shot with one second remaining, but the outcome was decided by that point. It was a big victory for a team which had been close, but could not pull it out in the end.
"We talked about closing it out this week in practice, what it takes and what has to happen to finish these games," said Brown. "We just needed to figure out how to win. This week we put ourselves in situations during practice where we had to make plays to win the ballgame, and it showed up today."
Sr. F Meagan Hoblet (Cadillac, MI/Cadillac) led the Alma attack with 24 points on 10 of 15 shooting and also had team-highs with three blocks and eight rebounds. Sr. G Lauren Hasler (Mt. Pleasant, MI/Sacred Heart) added 13 points, three steals and seven rebound for the Scots, while Best-Rowden finished with nine points and a team-high five assists.
The Scots will next play on Saturday, December 12, when they hit the road to take on MIAA foe Saint Mary's. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
