As the William Blake poem from which their name comes from proclaims, the Lady Tygers (2-1) were “burning bright” on Monday night, especially on the glass. The Ladies of Mansfield Senior hosted the Findlay Lady Trojans in an early season, non-conference bout, which the Lady Tygers won, 55-44.
Both teams got off to a lethargic start. Findlay’s Jenny Vielhaber scored the night’s first basket at the 5:27 mark. Vielhaber posted five points in the first quarter, leading the Lady Trojans to a 13-11 lead after one.
“We had to get better defensively,” Mansfield Senior head coach Todd Krill said of his team’s play in the first quarter. “We had to get pressure on the ball. We weren’t doing a very good job with their post coming out and picking our wings.”
Apparently, Krill’s message was received by his squad because the Lady Tygers came out roaring in the second quarter. Naya Penders scored two buckets to open the second quarter, giving Mansfield Senior the lead, 15-13.
The Tyger defense was tenacious in the second quarter, holding the Lady Trojans to just one basket, and by the half, the Lady Tygers took a double-digit lead, 26-15.
The Lady Trojans made it a ball game in the third, as Jacey Hardesty hit six points in the third for Findlay, helping the Lady Trojans close the gap to single digits, 35-27.
But Rajaa Anderson and Jeryn Reese proved to be too much for the Lady Trojans, posting a combined 15 points in the fourth quarter. “It feels great [to get this win]; we practiced hard yesterday,” Anderson said.
Coach Krill was thrilled with the way Anderson stepped up, especially the way she played on the offensive glass. “We thought Rajaa played really well,” Krill said of his sophomore forward. “We’ve been getting on her about getting on the offensive glass.” Anderson led all scorers with 20 points and added 16 rebounds as well. “Rajaa, she’s coming along really nicely.”
Anderson put up six points in the second quarter, seven in the third, and five in the fourth. “He [coach Krill] told us to box out, get on the boards, and just play a good game,” Anderson said.
It wasn’t just Anderson who got on the boards. Mansfield Senior tallied up 21 offensive rebounds and 21 defensive rebounds for a combined total of 42 rebounds—16 of which belonged to Anderson. Findlay only gathered 23 total rebounds.
Leading scorers for the Lady Tygers were Rajaa Anderson with 20 points, Naya Penders with 12 points, and Jeryn Reese with 10 points. For Findlay, Jacey Hardesty racked up 14 points, and Zoe Swisher added 13 points.
The Lady Tygers travel to Ram country on Thursday to take on OCC rival Madison.
