GODFREY - The LCCC women's basketball team may have dug a hole too deep in the first quarter of their season opener against Jefferson College. But despite trailing 21-9 after the first quarter, the Trailblazers struggled to get within three points in the fourth quarter before bowing to the Vikings 69-62 Tuesday night at River Bend Arena.
โWe got back on them,โ LCCC coach Jaron Young said, โbut we couldn't finish it.
โWe don't play smart, especially early in the game. In the second half, we played harder and smarter โ.
The game was the season opener for each team.
LCCC trailed JeffCo 52-38 heading into the fourth quarter, but closed the gap with a 17-8 run early in the quarter and was within 60-55 with 3:37 to play when Mary Penland-Holmes hit a triple. . Shooting.
After a Vikings basket, Penland-Holmes hit another triple to bring the Trailblazers back to five points at 63-58 with 2:57 left.
After the teams traded turnovers, LCCC came close to three when Kataya Grissom grabbed three offensive rebounds in a row and put the third in the basket to make it 63-60 with 2:04 left in the game.
But Jefferson's Laila McNeal scored with 1:28 left to make the score 65-60. The Trailblazers cooled down and the Vikings sealed the victory with four free throws in the final moments. LCCC's last basket was a close-range shot from Mykel Mathews with 4.8 seconds left.
โWe didn't shoot very well,โ Young said, โbut that will come. We did a better job in the second half. "
It seemed that the Vikings were going to flee before their time. They led 10-4 with 5:10 left in the first quarter on a Coral Molist layup. After a rebounding basket from LCCC's Mathews made it 10-6, the Vikings scored 11 straight points, but the Trailblazers got a boost at the buzzer when Teasha Ervin nailed a long-range three-point basket to make the 21- 9.
In the second quarter, LCCC and Jefferson essentially traded baskets, but the Vikings actually extended their lead by one point at halftime, 35-22.
The third quarter was more of the same and the Vikings led 50-38 heading into the fourth quarter.
LCCC was led by Penland-Holmes, who scored 19 points, including four triples. Mathews added 14 points and Grissom scored 14 points.
Jefferson was led by Molist, who scored 16 points. Neveah Howard added 15 points, Torrent scored 14 and McNeal added 13 points.
Each team had 37 rebounds. The Trailblazers committed 19 turnovers and the Vikings had 23.
"We didn't win, but I was happy with the way we stayed and ran," said Young, whose team will face rival Southwestern Illinois College at 1 pm Saturday in Belleville. โWe have some new players and they are getting used to us, our players are getting used to each other and we are all figuring it out.
"It's early. We'll be fine."
