CAL's Lady Centurions soared past Eastern's Lady Eagles in the 1st quarter for a 23-5 lead and cruised to a 23-point victory with every CAL player receiving significant playing time.

 

Will provide summary/stats later.

CAL 57 Eastern 34

In their home opener, CAL's Lady Centurions soared past Eastern's Lady Eagles in the 1st quarter for a 23-5 lead and cruised to a 23-point victory with every CAL player receiving significant playing time.

Senior guard Allison Karst helped CAL take control in the 1st half, scoring most of her game-high 15 points. Supplemented by Antonita Slaughter’s rebounding and assists, the offense shot 50% in the opening quarters. On the defensive end, the Lady Centurions allowed the Eagles no freedom to fly, limiting them to 0 of 6 from 3-point range and 18.2% shooting for the half.

With a comfortable lead, Coach Rice continued to substitute freely in the 2nd half and observe the chemistry of multiple line-ups. Freshman Kate Joss came off the bench to contribute 6 points and used her quickness to collect 3 rebounds. In the 4th quarter, CAL struggled to maintain their offensive rhythm and Eastern managed to slice the largest lead of 30 points to a more respectable 23-point deficit.

 

Sideline notes

CAL:

--Although Antonita Slaughter didn’t have one of her better shooting games (3 of 13 FG), she still had 12 points and provided an impressive 11 rebounds and 5 assists.

--CAL’s defense was unable to create as many turnovers in this contest, but the half-court pressure still took its toll on the opponent, limiting them to 22% shooting for the game.

Eastern:

--This is a young Lady Eagles team. The sophomore guard tandem of Asia Nichols (10 points) and Chalyse Taylor (8 points) may trigger matchup problems for opponents for the next two years. Their ball movement will cause defenders to chase, resulting in open looks.

 

Game scoring by quarter

CAL 23 10 16 8 57

Eastern 5 7 9 13 34

 

Player statistics

CAL: Allison Karst (15 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks), Antonita Slaughter (12 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists), China Dow (8 points, 4 rebounds), Anna Hart (7 points, 2 rebounds), Kate Joss (6 points, 3 rebounds), Emily Walden (4 points, 2 rebounds), Paige Gardner (3 points, 1 rebound), Casey Marshall (2 points)

Eastern: Nichols (10 points), Taylor (8 points), Hamilton (6 points), Finner (4 points), Abernathy (2 points), Murphy (2 points), Nash (2 points)

 

Team statistics

CAL: FG 18/49 (36.7%), 3-pt. FG 5/20 (25%), FT 16/22 (72.7%), 34 rebounds

Eastern: FG 11/50 (22%), 3-pt. FG 4/18 (22.2%), FT 8/14 (57.1%), 28 rebounds

 

Coming up for CAL...

Friday, December 18: CAL (4-0) vs. Nelson County (3-1) at Lexington Catholic, 8:30 pm

*Note: This game is the opening round of the Republic Bank Holiday Classic. For the tournament bracket, go here: http://www.lexingtoncatholic.com/sports/basketball/gbasketball/2009%20Republic%20Bank%20Championship%20bracket.pdf

(I'm assuming this school-related link will be allowed due to its neutral tournament information; however, I understand if moderator feels need to remove.)

--This game also provides a match-up between two of the top contenders for Miss KY Basketball, CAL's Antonita Slaughter and Nelson County's Samantha Drake.