Cobras Cease Cougars
Patrick Rolling
Feb 1, 2023
Illinois Central College (ICC) Cougars Women’s Basketball, with three wins behind them, took to the court Wednesday, Feb 1. to face off the Parkland Cobras. ICC, currently on a win streak, attempted to secure a fourth straight victory and extend their overall record to 15- 6. The Parkland Cobras, with a 17-1 overall record, slithered in to stop the Cougars, putting on a dazzling display of choreographed competition.
Sierra McNamee takes the tip off, and is the first player to score a point for the Cougars. Five minutes into the first quarter, McNamee remains the solo scorer, including an impressive reverse layup. Maya Webb would join McNamee with one successful foul shot at the six minute mark. Elena Redgate follows suit and adds points to the scoreboard in the first period. Finishing out the first period would see McNamee be the last player scoring.
The second period opens with Webb missing, but McNamee secures the rebound and puts the ball back up and into the hoop. A missed shot from Cobras leads to a breakaway as Peyton Dearing passes down court to Kyleigh Block who is wide open under the hoop for an easy layup. Naomi Elliot and McNamee scored back to back buckets, extending the lead to 7, 20-13 with 6:38 remaining in the first half. Elliot secures the first 3-pointer for the Cougars. Redgate is fouled on a successful 2-pointer, and secures the extra 1-point from the line.. The first half closed 28-22, with the Cougars leading.
The Cougars emerge sluggish opening the third period, going scoreless the first three minutes. The Cobras took the lead, with McNamee finally scoring a basket, reducing Parkland’s lead to only 1-point. A foul against Dearing allows the Cougars to take back the lead as she scores both free throws. Follow up shots from Elliot brought the lead to 3-points.The Cobras answered with their own 3-point shot, and the game was tied with five minutes in the third period. Maya Webb fired another 3-point shot and scored nothing but net. The Cobras answer with their own, maintaining the tie. Wilson is fouled on a 3-point shot attempt and nails all 3-foul shots, putting the Cougars 3-points ahead going into the final period.
Block scores first, with an assist from Dearing going into the fourth. Back and forth buckets between the two teams would keep the score close, tied at 52-52 with five minutes remaining in the game. Cobras sneak ahead by 2-points, only for Dearing to tie it up with two successful free throws following a fouled layup. Repeated fouls from both teams would allow a free throw contest to be undertaken, seeing the Cobras pull ahead as the Cougars missed their own attempts. With 7.3 seconds on the clock, the Cougars put up two more good free throws, taking the score to 60-62 in favor of the Cobras, and an out of bounds against the Cobras giving possession to the Cougars.
A full 30-second timeout is called with 4.8 seconds left. The ball is passed in and the Cougars drive it to the bucket, narrowly missing the shot, and the buzzer sounds. Victory to the Cobras, the 62 points being sufficient for success. The next game for the Cougars is Feb 4, as they take on the John Wood Blazers at Mountain Dew Court in Quincy, IL.