In a battle befitting two top-15 junior-college women's basketball teams, fourth-ranked Owens protected its home court in an early-season showdown despite a gutsy effort by No. 11 Kalamazoo Valley Community College Tuesday night in Perrysburg, Ohio.
Maureen Brown
KVCC drops to 1-1 on the young season, while Owens improves to 6-2.
KVCC came out of the gate strong and punched the Express in the nose early, led by freshman KaLeah Ryan's seven points as the Cougars took an 18-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. The second frame was not nearly as productive as the KVCC shooting touch went away and Owens started the quarter on an 18-3 run to take the lead. The home team went on to outscore the KVCC team 36-15 in the quarter and enjoyed a 46-33 lead at the half.
Both Ryan and sophomore center Maddie Franks also found themselves in foul trouble and things looked bleak.
"The game just kind of sped up for them in the second (quarter)," KVCC first-year head coach Maureen Brown said. "They were doing pretty much what they wanted in that quarter."
But it was far from over.
Primarily on the offensive play of freshman guard Jayshonna Blackshire and a renewed effort at the defensive end, the Cougars crawled back into the game. Blackshire scored eight points in the quarter and was a force on defense with a couple steals.
Blackshire ended up with 10 points on the night.
"'JB' came in and gave us a tremendous energy boost when Ryan picked up her fourth foul early in the third," Brown said. "Great confidence-builder for her. Good to see her play well."
The Cougars outscored Owens 19-12 in the quarter and trailed 58-52 going into the last quarter.
The final quarter was a back-and-forth affair. KVCC finally tied the score at 69 on two Franks free throws with 42 seconds left, which prompted an Owens timeout.
On the subsequent inbound play, Express guard Lakyn Gulley went coast to coast for a layup to give the lead back to the home team.
KVCC would have two really good looks at shots in the paint but couldn't get them to go. With 2.7 seconds left, the ball was tied up with possession to Owens and it was over.
"We felt that other than that fatal second quarter, we played pretty well," Brown said. "We'll learn the lessons and move on. I was really proud of our effort."
KVCC outscored Owens in three of the four quarters.
Chloe Salman, a freshman from Paw Paw, led a trio of Cougars in double figures with 12. Daejia Hill added 10 points. KVCC outrebounded Owens 49-37 and outscored them from the free throw line, 17-10, but the Cougars turned the ball over 22 times in probably the telling stat of the night.
Briana Williams led Owens with 16 points as the Express put five players in double figures.
Story courtesy of KVCC women's basketball.