The Lethbridge College Kodiaks women’s basketball team is off to a perfect 6-0 start to the season after sweeping the Briercrest Clippers in a pair of games last weekend.
The Kodiaks were simply too much to handle for the visiting Clippers, winning Friday’s match 80-54 and 90-51 on Saturday.
The Clippers never had a lead at any point in either game as they struggled defensively.
Although the Kodiaks won by 26 pts on Friday night, coach Brad Karren said he expected more from his team.
“Overall it was pretty good, I expect a better effort tomorrow.”
They looked out of rhythm and sluggish at times, particularly in the first half.
“We haven’t been able to practice in our gym all week because of the career fair and that hurt us a little bit and we weren’t quite as intense, it’s almost like going on a road game.”
Karren added that their defence needs to improve if they want to continue their winning ways.
Veteran forward Anne Mercer quietly had a dominating performance, posting 19 rebounds and scoring 14 points. Mercer currently leads the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) in rebounding with 11.25 rebounds per game.
Kayla Lambert, another Kodiak veteran took player of the game honours, scoring a game-high 19 points. Rookie Natalie Johnson had a strong game scoring 16 and new recruit, Paige Bowman chipped in 14 points off the bench.
The Kodiaks brought a lot more energy to the court on Saturday to seal the deal on the weekend sweep. Just like Karren said they had to be, they were tight defensively early in the game.
“We like to start out quick, we really work on that in practice and try to get a lead fast in the game and then they’re always trying to play catch-up and it’s a lot easier for us.”
Karren credited his bench players as being difference makers in the lopsided 90-51 win.
“I thought some of the girls that came off the bench, like Molly Harpole, is starting to figure out the point guard play and played well off the bench. They’re the ones that you kind of don’t notice as much but they’re really important to how you play.”
After her huge game on both sides of the ball Friday, Anne Mercer was at it again, scoring 19 points and grabbing 22 rebounds.
“She’s just got that knack of getting to the right place at the right time, but anytime you can get over 15 rebounds in a game is phenomenal,” said Karren.
Kayla Lambert, who seemed to be shooting the ball better on Saturday, once again led the game in scoring with 23 points with 8 assists.
It was Natalie Johnson who stood out as player of the game, pouring in 20 points.
“Yesterday we weren’t intense, we were slow and today we picked up the intensity and pushed the ball more and played a lot better on defense,” said Johnson.
Regardless of last weekend’s lopsided victories and perfect record, Karren says they need to make improvements if they want to beat the better teams.
“We’re really going to have to work on our defense for sure, I think SAIT’s ranked higher than us in that nation right now, so they’re going to come in here and they score a lot of points.”
The Kodiaks will travel to Calgary to face SAIT on Nov. 13 and return to Lethbridge to host them the following day. Both games are scheduled for 6 p.m.
Karren says the young Kodiaks are in for a test against a seasoned Trojans team.
“They’re a very old team, they’ve got a lot of fourth and fifth year players, so they’re going to be tough and we have to work on our defense.”?