Lady Greyhounds knock of #17 Jefferson, win 750th game

1/5/2012

The MACC Lady Greyhounds defeated 17th ranked Jefferson College 66-60 at Fitzsimmons-John Arena on Wednesday night, earning the 750th win in program history and ending a 12 game losing streak to the Lady Vikings in the process. MACC’s last victory against Jefferson came on March 10, 2006. The Lady Greyhounds defense, currently ranked 21st in the country in points allowed per game, came up big again as they held Jefferson to 22 points below their season offensive average and held their 13th opponent in 15 games to 60 or less points.

Both teams started slowly, but a three point field goal and two assists by Morgan Vetter helped the Lady Greyhounds build a 7-4 lead after six minutes of play before a 12-0 run by Jefferson gave them a 16-7 lead with 9:36 remaining in the first half.

MACC would answer with an 8-0 run of their own to trim the deficit to one before the two teams would trade scores, allowing Jefferson to lead 22-20 with three minutes left in the first half. A three point field goal by Ashley Stevenson gave the Lady Greyhounds their first lead in 10 minutes, but Jefferson quickly answered with a three point field goal of their own before a basket by Kayla Washington would tie the game at 25.

MACC’s determination could be seen by everyone in attendance during the last minute of the first half as three Lady Greyhounds attempted to dive for a loose ball near half court and Stevenson rebounded two of her own misses before being fouled and knocking down both of her free throw attempts. Jessica Bygate then rebounded her own miss to give MACC a 29-25 lead heading into the locker room.

‘I thought that last minute of play really showed what our mindset has become,” said head coach Chad Killinger. “We may go through some bad stretches offensively in games, but I believe we really try to play as hard as we can and defend throughout the entire course of a game, which is one of the first steps you have to take in rebuilding a program.”

Jefferson cut the MACC advantage to two, 31-29, early in the second half before a 10-3 run that included six points by Stevenson extended the Lady Greyhounds lead to nine, 41-32, with 15 minutes left in the game. However, the Lady Vikings would answer with a 6-0 run of their own to cut the MACC lead to three, 41-38.

The Lady Greyhounds would counter with an old fashioned three point play by Bygate, two free throws by Washington, and a three point field goal by Channel Baker to still lead 49-40 midway through the second half. MACC would maintain at least a two possession advantage until back to back baskets by the Lady Vikings once again trimmed the Lady Greyhounds led to three, 55-52, with just over five minutes to play in the game.

After baskets by Mykel Boyd and Shanevian Holden, MACC extended their lead to seven, 59-52, with only four minutes remaining in the game and maintained a five to six point advantage until a three point field goal by Jefferson made the score 63-60 with 36 seconds left to play. However, Holden would calmly knockdown three of four free throws allowing the Lady Greyhounds to seal the 66-60 victory.

“We did a great job of responding whenever Jefferson would cut into our lead,” said Killinger. “I thought we showed that we are capable of playing with anybody and that we aren’t going to be the type of team that rolls over when the action gets heated or backs down from a tough opponent.”

Just four days after grabbing a career high 18 rebounds Holden came up big again for MACC. The six foot freshman scored a career high 17 points, and notched the second double-double of her career with 12 rebounds. Holden was joined in double figures by Stevenson and Washington, who scored 15 and 11 points respectively.

MACC outrebounded Jefferson 49-37, while shooting 42 percent from the field and making 19 of 27 free throw attempts. Jefferson struggled to get anything going on the offensive end of the floor, shooting 32 percent from the field and making only three of 16 three point field goal attempts.

“I’m really proud of our kids for being a part of history,” said Killinger. “There are only 11 players who will be able to say that they were on the team that won the 750th game in the history of the program. We actually talked about that and how we still had a lot of things that we could accomplish together after we lost at North Arkansas, even though we were in a bit of a slump at the time. Hopefully we can build on this win and continue to improve throughout the rest of the season.”

The Lady Greyhounds will take on North Arkansas for the second time this season as the two teams will meet at Fitzsimmons-John Arena on Tuesday, January 10th. Tip-off is set for 5:00 p.m.