Winning when you play poorly sure beats the alternative!

Our final game at home this season sure proved to be a bit more stressful and exciting than we had hoped, but we sure were thankful for the 54-48 win over Silver Lake College. We were hoping to build off of our great effort in a road loss at Finlandia from Tuesday night, but instead struggled most of the game to find our shooting touch and running game.

We jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead, but went almost 8 minutes without scoring. Tiff made a couple of critical steals and conversions in the last minute of the half to pull us into a 18-18 tie at the half. Yes, that's 18-18! Our point total equaled our field goal percentage in the half.

In the locker room at the half, the girls were frustrated at their inability to get up and down the floor, as well as convert shots they normally made. We talked about the things we can directly control - effort, intensity, and desire - and agreed to allow the rest to take care of itself.

We responded the second half well, and behind some key 3-pointers by Tiff and hard work by Jenna inside, were able to slowly pull into a lead we would never surrender. We shot better (40%) in the second half and pushed hard to run the floor. Tiff finished with 25 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals, while Jenna had her second consecutive dominant game with 18 points, 17 rebounds, and 4 steals.

After the game, we honored 6 team members that had played their final home game.

• Kristy Legg, our manager the past 2 years and former player
• Rebekah Watson, first year transfer player for us, but last year of eligibility
• Brooke Byard, a two-year player finishing her certificate this May
• Brooke VanLaanen, a two-year player graduating in May
• Tiffany Chatfield, a four-year player and captain
• Jenna Kurtz, a four-year player, 3-time All-Region selection, and captain

All of these girls help make up a significant part of this special team. They will also all leave serious voids on and off the court. More important than any basketball achievements, I'm more excited because of the spiritual growth in their lives during their careers.

The other obvious thing you notice is that this will leave a lot of opportunities for some Christian young ladies who love the Lord, love basketball, want to enjoy a basketball family relationship, and make incredible memories during their college years to join us. If you're a friend of Lady Pioneer basketball and know of anyone that may fit this description, please encourage them to contact me.

Next game Saturday afternoon at Gogebic in Ironwood, MI. We have never won there and are looking forward to getting better!

Thanks for reading (I think!).