Lady Titans off to a hot start

LCC undefeated after first three games

Alan K. Fox - THE TORCH

Despite the loss of freshman guards Nickole Bartholomew and Brooke Davison to ACL injuries, the Titan women's basketball team is looking forward to a successful season. Head coach Greg Sheley's team is already 3-0 on the road.

Last season, the team finished with a 24-6 record and finished sixth at the NWAACC Championships.

So far the women have been winning by an average of 46 points per game. The Titans currently average 108 points per game.

Sophomore forward Ashley Smith, who transferred to LCC from Idaho State University, has led the Titans with an average 24 points and nine rebounds per game.

"Smith is doing exactly what we thought she would do," Sheley said. "She is scoring points, grabbing rebounds and playing hard for us."

The first game of the season was against the Seattle Storm (0-1, 0-0 Northern Region) on Nov. 20 in Seattle and LCC came out victors 121-64.

"We shot really well and played great defense and just tired them down, and by the second half they [Seattle] were just so tired," Sheley said.

Sophomore guard MaKenzie Ficek tied a school record during the game with 10 three-pointers and finished the game with 32 points, four rebounds and two steals.

Sophomore guard Susan Smith also led the team with 11 points, 12 assists and four rebounds. The Titans had seven players finish with double figures in scoring against the Storm.

The Titans played Shoreline the next day and defeated the Dolphins 95-55.

Ashley Smith led the way with her first double-double of the season. She scored 24 points and added 13 rebounds.

Sophomore forward Andrea Anderson scored a season-high 16 points and eight rebounds against the Dolphins.

"Anderson has done a great job coming off of the bench, getting some good buckets and getting some good boards," Sheley said.

On Nov. 27 the Titans played host to an LCC alumni team and came out ahead 108-64.

Susan Smith tied a school-record with 14 assists.

Ashley Smith had her second straight double-double with a season-high 32 points and added 10 rebounds.

Anderson had her first double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 eleven rebounds.

Freshman forward Victoria Nnolli also added a double-double for the Titans with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

"Nnolli has been, in my mind, playing really well for us out there," Sheley said. "She had been really scrapping out there for us getting some put-backs and getting fouled, which is nice."

Susan Smith, who leads the NWAACC in assists with 10.3 per game, is happy with the early success, but said there is more to work on.

"These first three games have been very good so far and we are getting out and running in transition well which makes us play better all round," Smith said. "The main thing right now is to get healthy and continue to play well and hard on defense."

The Titans will travel to Lakewood, Wash. on Dec. 10 to compete in the Pierce Tournament.