The women’s basketball team made a comeback with two separate victories against Northwest Missouri (69-48) on Thursday, Jan. 31 and Missouri Western (79-68) on Saturday, Feb. 2.
“I think we rebounded well from having the two losses last week and (I was) excited to see the girl’s hard week of practice pay off for them when they were able to go on the road and get two road wins,” said head coach Amanda Davied.
The Gorillas were down three points in the third quarter but managed to battle back and eventually win the game.
“Well, we went into halftime and really talked about our defense, just how we really needed to be resilient, we need this win, (and) we are going to do anything and everything that is possible to get the win,” Davied said. “I thought the girls really just refocused on defense and really communicated much better in the second half…”
Several players stood out to Davied during the matches against Northwest Missouri and Missouri Western.
“Maya Williams had an outstanding week and it really began with her practice. I thought she had a great practice all week and really just did a great job on offense, finding good shots, powering through some contact, having her shoulders to the rim, eyes to the rim and (I) was really impressed by her… Marina Bauza came in and knocked down a couple threes and really just rose to the opportunity with Athena (Alvarado) being out and that was in the Northwest game,” Davied said. “… (In the Missouri Western game) I thought Tristan Gegg did an awesome job and really came in and gave us a lift, offensively made three three-pointers and got us going… Kaylee DaMitz and Maya Williams both played outstanding (offense) and (defense)… I thought it was a lot of team effort, a lot of kids coming in and doing their job and rising to the opportunity. They just really made the most it and it was really fun to watch them.”
The team is going to be focusing on offense, defense, and rebounding during practice to prepare for the next game against Fort Hays State University on Thursday Feb. 7.
“We are going to continue to work on us and we will be scouting one of the best teams in the nation with Fort Hays State coming in and we will need to really continue to get our offense to find the best shot,” Davied said. “… We will be working on our defense and rebounding as well.”
Davied hopes to see the team continue to come together during the rest of the season.
“I really hope that we can continue to pull together and be playing our best basketball at the end of the year,” Davied said.
The Gorillas are now ranked 17-4 and 9-3 in Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association
(MIAA).
The next two matches are home games at John Lance Arena against Fort Hays State University on Thursday, Feb. 7 and the University of Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday, Feb. 9.