Women win against Chemeketa

LCC 87, Chemeketa 64 -But the Titans couldn't revenge loss against Clackamas. The team begins a playoff push this weekend in Kennewick, Wash.

Sanne Godfrey

Media Credit: Brett Stanley Brittany May gets around a Chemeketa player for a one-handed layup in the last 10 minutes of the last half of Saturday's home game. The Lady Titans trounced Chemeketa 87-64.

In the second game of back-to-back nights the Lady Titans played host to the Chemeketa Storm Feb. 26. It was the final game of the regular season and the last game as a Lady Titan for the six sophomores on the team.

The aggressive game between the two teams ended with the Lady Titans victorious, 87-64. The win sealed second place in the Southern Region for head coach Greg Sheley's team as the women enter the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges' playoffs.

"We beat Chemeketa by 50 points in our first meeting so we did a lot of the same things, but had different results," Sheley said. "We mixed up our defenses and Chemeketa played pretty well."

Sophomore forward Ashley Smith led all scorers with her 23 points and she also added 12 rebounds, extending her steak of double-doubles to five games.

The Lady Titans played aggressive on both sides of the ball against the Lady Storm and they were able to pull ahead from beginning of the game, which helped them enter halftime up, 42-26.

"Lane is very good and their strength and size makes them a tough competitor," Jesse Ailstock, head coach for the Lady Storm, said. "We played hard and tried our best, but in the end we just didn't have the size."

With a minute left in the first half, the Lady Storm fans became increasingly upset with the referees because of the difference in fouls being called on the two teams. The differential was 6-0 in favor of the Lady Titans.

This difference in fouls also led to an advantage for the Lady Titans where they shot 7-for-11 from the free-throw line while the Lady Storm were one-for-two.

The Lady Storm fought back in the second half, but still came up short.

Sophomore forward Kristen Huff finished the game with 13 point, and sophomore point guard Susan Smith led the team with five steals.

A scary moment for the Lady Titans happened with five minutes left in the game when freshman forward Victoria Nnoli went down with a knee injury. She finished the game with three points and five rebounds.

Nnoli's injury will put her out for the remainder of the season.

The previous night the Lady Titans traveled to Oregon City to play the NWAACC's top-ranked Clackamas Cougars and fell short, 84-78.

"I don't think the loss of Friday had much affect on the team in Saturday's game," Sheley said.

LCC was hoping to revenge its loss to the Cougars, who broke the Lady Titans home winning steak.

"We beat Clackamas in a pre-league tournament in Tacoma," Sheley said.

Sophomore guard Brittany May, who is the Lady Titans' all-time three-point shooter, led the way for the team with 24 points. She shot 7-for-10 from behind the three-point arch.

LCC begins its playoff push March 5 in Kennewick, Wash. when the women play their first round game against Clark at 10 a.m.

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