Women's Basketball continues to struggle in conference play
The Lady Keelhaulers Basketball Team (5-20, 0-10) got off to a strong start scoring the first four points of the game against Benedictine University Mesa. The Keelhaulers did an outstanding job on defensive transitions, which played a big part in keeping the lead for a while. But eventually that lead would evaporate due to poor shot selection.
The Redhawks applied full court pressure hoping to rattle the Keelhaulers, however, senior Luisa Delos Reyes of San Leandro, Calif. responded well to this pressure by dribbling right through it and finding her open teammates.
With 1:40 remaining in the first quarter, the Redhawks took their first lead of the night at 12-10. Junior Nneka Anyaoha of Long Beach, Calif. got her team back on track by being a major threat on the offensive side where she went 3-3 from the field and 4-4 from the free throw line.
Both teams seemed to struggle offensively coming into the second quarter. The Redhawks hit a spark and began hitting a couple outside shots to put Ben-U. up 24-18, causing Coach Cox to burn another timeout. The Keelhaulers came out of the timeout with more intensity, and senior Nancy Clark of Calexico, Calif. scored a basket right away as they looked to go on a run.
Once again though, the Keelhaulers came out flat at the start of the second half. Turnovers began to pile up, which helped the Redhawks increase their lead to 44-30. Not only did Ben U. turn up the pressure, but they became more aggressive offensively, which allowed them to a numerous amount of free throw attempts.
Cal Maritime continued to put up a fight trying to cut the lead to single digits in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for the Lady Keelhaulers, they came up too short yet again.
Benedictine Mesa walked away with the win against Cal Maritime for the second time. The Lady Keelhaulers continue to be winless in conference, and are hoping to pull out a win before the end of the season.
The Lady Keelhaulers defended the Redhawks' offense well, but it was the second-shot attempts that helped Ben U. take full control of the game. Cal Maritime lost the rebounding battle 37-26, giving up 13 more offensive rebounds to the Redhawks.
"I thought our physicality was good tonight," Head Coach Dennis Cox said. "We just allowed them too many offensive rebounds. Those second-chance points were the difference, along with not hitting enough of our shots."
Junior Samantha James of Fresno, Calif. had a huge impact on the night finishing with 16 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks, leading the Keelhaulers in all three categories. Anyaoha finished with 10 points on the night, as well as getting it done on defense with three steals.
UP NEXT: The Lady Keelhaulers return back to their home court on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. against the University of Antelope Valley.