#4 Women’s Basketball routs Carl Sandburg
December 17th, 2018 – 9:00 pm
East Peoria, Ill. – It was a quick turnaround for the fourth-ranked ICC Women’s Basketball team (11-1), who were just two days removed from a 80-61 win over Jefferson College. Just like that, on a Monday night from Lorene Ramsey Gym, the Cougars would be tasked with defeating the Carl Sandburg Chargers (5-7).
The game got off to somewhat of a slow start for both teams. ICC was the first team to truly grab any momentum. Something that has been a theme throughout the season, the Cougars kept up the balanced scoring, with seven different players reaching the scoring column. Summer Stoewer (Fr. – Normal Community) showed her three-point shooting abilities early, hitting two to pace ICC’s first quarter scoring with six points. The Cougars would hold a 20-12 lead after one.
Slow starts continued into the second quarter, at least scoring-wise. The difference that is certainly worth noting is that ICC spread out the scoring to five different individuals, while the visiting Chargers only got two players to score. Thus, after the two sides combined for a 32-point opening 10 minutes, the second quarter only saw 20 points between the Cougars and Chargers, with ICC out-scoring Carl Sandburg 12-8 in the quarter to take a 32-20 halftime lead.
ICC’s head coach Karrie Redeker believes that it was a few things that led to the slow start and eventual regrouping.
“We just weren’t playing super smart. Just a long week of finals and then ready to go home for Christmas, so we just asked them to focus a little bit better.”
Right away in the second half, Chargers head coach Mike Bailey went to a local product for a potential turnaround. That player was Limestone alumnus Kennedy Jackson. The 5’10” freshman worked well in the post, scoring almost all of her points in the third quarter. At least to start, ICC did not seem to have an answer. What they did have was scoring, and a lot of it. Not only did the balanced scoring make yet another appearance in the quarter, the scoring came in a flurry, and may just have been at least one of the reasons the Cougars ended up with a dominant victory.
As to what the Cougars did when Jackson started her individual run, Emma Henderson (So. – Tuscola) believed it came down to one thing.
“We didn’t really have too much help side, so we adjusted to that, and she didn’t really get as much points.”
Coach Redeker added to what she could tell Jackson means to that Charger team.
“They have good shooters around there, so we weren’t able to sync quite as much as we would’ve liked to. I thought we could’ve done a little better job of pushing her out of the paint so she couldn’t catch quite so easily. She had a good game for them. That was the right thing for them to do.”
Rocky Stanley (Fr. – East St. Louis) had the best quarter in regards to scoring total, but it was truly a well-rounded effort that doubled the halftime lead. The issue with Carl Sandburg seemed to be that Jackson was the only major scoring contributor in the second half, while ICC had multiple weapons.
Every player on the ICC roster would see action in this one. With plenty of time to work the players in, it would mean that ICC would once again cruise to a victory. In fact, headed into Monday’s game, the Cougars were out-scoring their opponents by roughly 21 points per game. It was just a slightly longer road to the final score than the Cougars perhaps would’ve liked.
In the end, ICC would come away with a 72-43 win. The victory gave the Cougars their 11th win of the season, and upped the win streak to 11, given that ICC has not lost a game since the season opener against North Iowa Area.
When it came to what was the difference between the slow start and the nearly 30-point win, Henderson said it had to do with the defensive mindset and how it transitioned onto the other side of the ball.
“I think our defense helped our offense. We couldn’t get a score at the beginning.”
ICC seemed frustrated at times, that they were only up ten or so against the Chargers, when they felt like it could be a much greater lead, especially earlier in the game. Henderson agrees.
“Well, we had finals this week. We know we’ve been on a hot streak, so coming out ready to play is always a big thing. Everyone’s been focused on finals. We didn’t get in the gym as much as we normally do each week. I think once we got in the groove of things, full-court man helped us a lot. We pressured them, and they didn’t really like the pressure.”
ICC finished with three players in double figures, paced by Henderson’s 14 points. Coach Redeker was pleased with that statistic.
“We obviously have been really balanced all season. Once we got our defense going a little better in the second half, got some transition opportunities. Got some younger kids some minutes too, so that’s always important as well.”
The Cougars are off in terms of games until the 38th Holiday Tournament, opening with Sauk Valley on December 28th. Henderson thinks that 11-day gap between games is a plus.
“I like a break, but I think it’s nice to have a couple of days off and I know we’ll be getting in the gym. It’s nice to get fresh legs coming back after break.”
Coach Redeker is hopeful for the break.
“I hope it refocuses them, re-energizes them. More importantly, we’ve done a lot of traveling this first semester. For a lot of our kids, we have eight freshmen that haven’t been in college. It’s been a grind.”
The Holiday Tournament will feature a mix of old and new teams: ICC, Kirkwood, Parkland, Carl Sandburg, Sauk Valley, McHenry County, Bryant & Stratton, and North Iowa Area.
#4 ICC Cougars Scoring: Emma Henderson (14), Rocky Stanley (12), Summer Stoewer (11), Kathy Pinnock-Branford (8), Marquitta Easley (7), Abby Coates (6), Jordyn Hare (5), Madison Faulkner (5), Moriah Ward (4)
#4 ICC Team Stats: Field Goals (26-67 / 38.8%), Three-Pointers (7-21 / 33.3%), Free Throws (13-20 / 65.0%), 46 rebounds, 13 fouls, 15 assists, 20 turnovers, 6 blocks, 20 steals
#4 ICC Individual Leaders: Field Goals (Four with 4 each), Three-Pointers (Stoewer & Henderson / 3 each), Free Throws (Three with 3 each), Rebounds (Stoewer & Pinnock-Branford / 6 each), Assists (Kathy Pinnock-Branford / 5), Blocks (Moriah Ward / 3), Steals (Ward & Pinnock-Branford / 5 each)
Next Game:
- 38th Annual ICC Holiday Tournament
- @ Lorene Ramsey Gymnasium
- Friday, December 28th
- 6:00 pm scheduled tipoff
- vs. Sauk Valley