The St. Peter’s Lady Spartans hosted the Lady Cougars of Crestview on Tuesday night at the Franciscan Activity Center, winning the game with a final score of 51-44. Both teams came to the game hungry for an early-season win.
The Lady Spartans scored first off of a basket by Della Hall, and the lady Spartans never looked back.
St. Peter’s ran the ball up and down the floor all night, keeping Crestview off balance. That tempo allowed the Lady Spartans to push the ball up the court and build a solid lead.
To keep the tempo up, the Lady Spartans looked to senior Tiza Jones to push the ball and cut to the basket. “I knew that when I came out they were going to try and face-guard me, and it happened.” Jones said. “My key was to penetrate and kick [the ball] out and get some open looks for my other teammates because I wasn’t going to be open. I thought I capitalized well on that.”
But not everything was smooth going for the Lady Spartans. They totaled 25 turnovers, many of which were traveling violations.
St. Peter’s head coach Shani Rush wasn’t happy with the way her squad handled the ball. “I don’t know why we were traveling. We had more travels this game than we’ve had all season,” Rush said.
The Lady Cougars were not far behind though, racking up 20 turnovers of their own, which the Lady Spartans capitalized on with their speed and size. “We like to put pressure on the ball,” Rush said. “We try to get our steals off of that.”
In tandem with controlling the pace of the game, the Lady Spartans also wanted to keep the ball out of the hands of Crestview’s Renee Stimpert. “We knew we had to stop #3 [Stimpert],” Rush said. “She’s a great player.”
Stimpert was held in check most of the night, finishing with nine points. “We rotated girls on her and our defense on her,” Rush said. “That was our plan.”
However, Crestview did make it a game, tying the game up and keeping it close in the second half. The Lady Cougars went on a 10-0 run late in the third period to tie the game at 31 all. St. Peter’s Emily Yeager scored with 8.1 seconds left in the third, giving the Lady Spartans a 33-31 lead.
In the fourth, the Lady Cougars came within one point off of a three pointer from none other than Renee Stimpert, putting the game at 37-36.
But the tempo was simply too much for the Lady Cougars, who had trouble hitting free throws and key baskets at the end of the game.
Rebounding was another key area for St. Peter’s. In the first quarter alone, the Lady Spartans nabbed 13 rebounds compared to Crestview’s nine. The rebounding helped the Lady Spartans build and retain an early lead.
By the end of the game, St. Peter’s outrebounded Crestview, 48-32. “Our rebounding was tremendous tonight and [so was] finishing down the stretch,” Rush said.
Finish they did. The Lady Spartans held only a two-point lead with 1:52 left in the game. They went on a 5-2 run, led by Jones and Hall, to finish the game.
Jones led all scorers with 20. Hall added 13 for St. Peter’s, and Yeager dropped in nine.
For the lady Cougars, Caitlyn Fulk scored 13 points.
Moving forward, the Lady Spartans know that their age will be a factor. They hope to continue to grow as a team and learn from their mistakes. “Coming from a young team our freshmen have to step up—even seniors like myself,” Jones said. “You have to keep pushing through it. You can’t settle and think about what we did last play.”