February 20, 2011

Freshmen sparkle in victory over the Bruins

No Nneka? No problem! Well, not an insurmountable problem. The Bruins battled fiercely and effectively for almost the entire 40 minutes but finally succumbed, thanks largely to the efforts of Chiney and Toni who led the Cardinal to a 67-53 victory.

Chiney played hard and smart for 37 minutes. She had a huge double-double (18 points and career-high 15 rebounds), made 10 of 12 free throws, and had a block and a steal. Remarkably, she committed only two fouls as she prevailed over fierce defense by the Bruins. Also remarkable — she had enough energy to jump up and down in excitement after putting up a difficult "... and one" with two minutes left to play.

Toni took over at the point 3½ minutes into the game and never left. She added 13 points and two assists to the Cardinal offense. She handled the Bruins' pressure with composure, losing the ball just three times, and balanced that nicely with three steals. Her defense of Darxia Morris, the Bruins' leading scorer, was a big factor in holding Morris to 0-7 on field goal attempts in the second half.

The Cardinal rocks — Kayla and Jeanette — were solid today, as always.

Kayla had a double-double (13 points, 11 rebounds), two assists, two blocks and a steal. Her defense of Jasmine Dixon helped to hold the Bruins' star player to three field goals and ten points.

Jeanette led the Cardinal off to a great start as she sank a 3-pointer on their first possession. After that the Bruin defense held her to three field goals and ten points — same as Dixon. She also had five assists, two rebounds and a steal.

Here are game reports:

The box score and play-by-play

And photos from the Associated Press:

Mikaela battles for a rebound Jeanette tries a steal Kayla scores with a reverse layup Joslyn fights against a double team Mikaela takes a fall Jeanette finishes a fast break Chiney and Kayla have good reason to be pleased

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