Women’s Basketball falls in tight game to Kirkwood

Last night, the Lady Wildcats took on two time State Champions, the Kirkwood Pioneers. The Wildcats knew before the game even started that they were going to have to play flawless basketball to compete against this impressive team.

Sophomore guard Kristen Keys started the Wildcats off to a good start by winning the tip against the 6”2 UCLA commit, Lauryn Miller. With this momentum, the lady Wildcats played the first half with a certain intensity and composure that had never been seen before.

Coach of the Wildcats, Shannon Laurence, knew who needed to be stopped in order for the Wildcats to have a chance. She decided to have the team run a box and one on Senior Lauryn Miller. This meant that while 4 players were in a box zone defense, there was one who face guarded Miller, the goal being not to let her touch the ball. This defense proved to be perfect in containing Miller, and also putting a stop to Kirkwood’s usual flow of offense.

Kirkwood started the scoring off early with a three from the corner shot by Senior guard Lola Bracy. The next few minutes were occupied by many possesion changes. The Wildcats could not seem to score, and a foul on Miller resulted in the score becoming 4-0, Kirkwood. Although the Wildcats had not scored, they still were hustling back on defense and were keeping composure.

Kirkwood continued to put full court pressure on the Wildcats and were containing the Kirkwood offense. Another foul on Lauryn Miller made the game 5-0, Kirkwood, the WIldcats still scoreless.

A glimmer of hope finally came for the Wildcats when Junior guard Jordan Haeusser got fouled on a shot from outside the paint, assisted by Sophomore guard Kiley Mckee. The Wildcats finally had put points on the board, and from there things only went up.

Kristen Keys quickly stepped up for the Wildcats on defense, proceeding to get a steal and push it down the floor for another and one. Keys sunk her free throw, tying the game 5-5. Kirkwood quickly realized that the Wildcats were going to put up more of a fight then they realized.

Scoring went back and forth, with good defense played on both sides of the floor. The ending score of the first quarter was 7-5, with the Wildcats only trailing by 2.

Sophomore Kiley Mckee started off the scoring for the second quarter with an amazing layup. This would be two of many points that the Wildcats would clench this quarter. With clutch rebounds and buckets by Keys and another Sophomore post, Claire Sanden, the Wildcats ended up tied with Kirkwood 16-16. The Wildcats had just done what nobody thought they could, and that was to compete with some of the highest level of competition they would face all season.

During the third quarter, adversity set in for the Wildcats. Questionable fouls were being called, shots were not going in, and Miller was coming up big for Kirkwood with solid buckets. The Wildcats were still going strong though, and continued to steadily score a few buckets and play good defense. At the end of the third, Kirkwood was on top 31-24.

The fourth quarter was uneventful, with the Wildcats not being able to close the scoring gap that faced them. Although an amazing effort was put in by the Wildcats, they could not seem to hold the Pioneers off. The ending score being 42-31, the Wildcats held Kirkwood under 50 and also proved that they were a team that should be watched for. Although the Lady Wildcats did not get the dub, they still played an exceptional game of basketball.