It was a fight to the finish for the Lethbridge Kodiaks woman’s basketball team in their weekend games against the Medicine Hat Rattlers, which resulted in a split as each team picked up a win on their own home court.
Friday’s home game was a see-saw battle for the Kodiak women, who gave up the lead multiple times throughout, but at the end of the game they maintained their composure to pull out the 76-72 victory.
“We made some mistakes out there, some critical mistakes, but we overcame those. When we needed to score or we needed a stop, we still got them,” said Kodiaks head coach Avery Harrison.
The women came out aggressive to start the first quarter forcing turnovers on defence and then converting them into baskets on the other end to build an early lead.
However, the second quarter played out differently for the Kodiaks, as they were the ones giving up a lot of second opportunities via fouls or turnovers. This allowed the Rattlers to climb back into the game and establish a four-point lead of their own with just less than two minutes left in the quarter. That was until Kodiaks forward Natalie Johnson nailed a desperation three-pointer as the shot clock ran down to cut their deficit to one point at 38-37 to end the half.
It only took a couple minutes though for the Kodiaks to regain their lead as Johnson helped spark a 9-2 run to claim a 46-40 lead that forced Rattlers head coach to take a quick timeout.
In the fourth, Medicine Hat continued to battle back through some three-point shots and tight defence that limited the Kodiaks from getting any quality shots. Robyn Morlock of the Rattlers hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 66 with just over three minutes left, leaving the fans on the edge of their seats.
With just 14 seconds left in the quarter, the Rattlers kept the pressure on the Kodiaks, pulling to within two points after hitting a three-pointer.
But Johnson responded for the Kodiaks by taking a hard foul and nailing her two free-throws to put the game away at 76-72.
Besides getting the win, the other positive Harrison took from this game was the play of new guard Lindsay Pierson, who made clutch plays throughout the game on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball, finishing the game with 19 points and eight rebounds.
“You know she just joined us at Christmas, so this is basically still pre-season form for her and she played outstanding tonight. I think she went out there and she just had fun and wasn’t stressed about the game and when it was all done she just played her game.”
Pierson, however, was reluctant to take any credit for the win as she accredited their victory to team play.
“It wasn’t me. It was my team. They’re the ones who helped me,” said Pierson after the game.
“It was just a team effort, everyone pushed and everyone wanted it.”
The Kodiaks top scorer for the game was Johnson with 26 points. Another key contributor was Katheryne Lowry who put up a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
On Saturday night in Medicine Hat the Rattlers came out on top, picking up the 78-72 victory.