The College of DuPage women’s basketball team fought tooth and nail to create second-chance opportunities on Dec. 12 against McHenry County College, making 60 total rebounds. The Chaparrals kept chipping away at the Scots’ lead, but struggled to find the net in the second half at home. COD couldn’t close the gap against McHenry, falling 65-56 and leaving their record at 3-8.
“We had 19 more shots than them, it’s finishing those shots [that counts],” head women’s basketball coach Abby Talley said. “Going 2-for-22, [we need to be] executing somewhere else if our [three-point shots] aren’t falling. A lot of their players had four fouls, and we didn’t take advantage of that.”
Talley commented on the current state of the team, hoping that the Chaps can find their groove in the second half of the season.
“We’re in this never-ending cycle where we have a strong first half and then we fall off the second half,” she said. “I don’t know if that’s due to conditioning or lack of discipline at this point, but I’m hoping we turn the corner here quite soon.”
Freshman guard Maddie Maracich recorded her first double-double of the season, leading the team with 16 points and 21 total rebounds. She also made one steal.
“I had to develop more of an offensive mindset,” Maracich said. “That’s what Coach Talley kept telling me. I’ve been trying. I’m really trying to do that, but I also got to [keep working] on my defense. I’m always a good rebounder; it’s my offensive game I got to bring.”
Sophomore guard Sierra Gibson scored nine points and racked up eight total rebounds. She also picked up three assists and three steals. Gibson said the team could’ve made a comeback, but they lacked the drive to turn it around.
“It’s hard to figure out what even happened,” Gibson said. “It just comes down to heart and wanting it more, especially in those last few minutes when we aren’t even down by that much. We were down by 10 [points] with three minutes left. That’s an easy comeback. It’s just heart and pushing ourselves even when we’re tired.”
Sophomore forward Sarah Topps also tallied nine points, made two offensive rebounds and secured one assist and steal. Topps said the team needs to focus on their next game and put this loss behind them.
“As a team, we should’ve come together and tried to stop the two top players a little bit quicker than we did,” Topps said. “[We should’ve] not let them go off in the second half. We’re going to turn around and forget about this game in a few minutes, fix the mistakes and keep our heads up.”
The Scots had three players on their fourth foul by the end of the third quarter. Sophomore guard Delmarea Willis scored eight points and put up eight total rebounds. She also added two assists and one steal. Willis said if the referees had called more obvious fouls, then the Chaps could’ve regrouped better.
“The [referees] just weren’t calling it,” Willis said. “They weren’t on our side, which is their job, but I just feel like with fair calls it would’ve been a whole different ball game. Our goal was to keep attacking and keep our game plan, but it just got taken away from us.”
With three straight losses, Talley said she hopes the team resets and refocuses before their next game on Saturday.
“I just hope that we learn from our mistakes,” she said. “I hope the girls start to look in the mirror and realize that most of these losses have come because of us. We own the boards. We had more shots than [McHenry]. Now it’s time to execute, take advantage of that fact and start turning that corner.”
The Chaparrals look to snap their three-game losing streak against the Carl Sandburg College Chargers at 1 p.m. on Dec. 16 in Galesburg, Ill.
