The College of DuPage women’s basketball team fought an uphill battle at home against Elmhurst University junior varsity on Jan. 15. Sophomore guard Sierra Gibson led the charge scoring the most in a game for COD women’s basketball in 24 years with 37 points. The Chaparrals tried to rally behind Gibson, but they couldn’t break through the Bluejays. In their best offensive game since November, COD couldn’t catch up to Elmhurst, falling 74-76 and leaving their record at 4-13.

“This is definitely a step in the right direction,” head women’s basketball coach Abby Talley said. “When we run in transition, and we’re all together on the same page, we’re pretty deadly. Elmhurst is a great transition-playing team as well. We need to make sure that if we are going to push the ball on offense, then we also need to stop it on the defensive end. It was a good game, and I’m proud of the girls for going hard to the very end.”

Along with her career-high 37 points, Gibson put up nine total rebounds. She also led the team with six assists and three steals. She described how this performance was fueled by pent-up aggression from a lost scrimmage at Elmhurst earlier this season.

“I didn’t even know [I scored that many] to be honest,” Gibson said. “I was just in go-mode. I wanted this so bad. I feel like I want it bad every game, but this one was just [different]. We had a horrible game [earlier this season]; it was our first game at Elmhurst, and we didn’t perform how we wanted to. It was very frustrating, and I like getting my get back. The 37 points is great, but I wish we could’ve gotten the win.”

Sophomore forward Savannah Anderson notched her third double-double of the season, scoring 12 points and making 12 total rebounds. She also made one assist and one steal. She said she hopes to continue performing consistently to help the team to victory.

“It’s good to know that I am doing something out there and making an impact,” Anderson said. “I will continue to always put my team first and put my body out there for my team. At the end of the day, I want us to win. I want to put us in the best situation to do that for each and every one of [my teammates] out there.”

Anderson reflected on her court chemistry with Gibson, naming her one of her biggest motivators to play Chaparral basketball.

“She is one of the biggest reasons I really wanted to come to DuPage to play,” she said. “I saw her play, and I told coach Talley ‘I want to play with her. I want to give her as many assists as possible.’ She’s the person that you’d want on your team. No doubt.”

Anderson also mentioned the dedication Gibson has to her team.

“She will go balls out fighting for you, fighting for the team and giving her all indefinitely,” Anderson said. “It’s just truly a wonderful experience knowing that you have a teammate like that who’s willing to do just about everything. We’re just in sync. We know exactly what we want to do with each other.”

Freshman guard Megan Martinez recorded 13 points and two total rebounds. Martinez also picked up three assists. She said the difference in energy between their losses to Olive-Harvey College and Elmhurst was apparent on the scoreboard and stat sheet.

“We honestly did really well,” Martinez said. “Coming from Olive-Harvey and that loss, this was a big step that we needed confidence-wise. We really brought it to them. I feel like we’re definitely ready now. Each person is contributing with points and their playing.”

Along with the JV squad, Elmhurst mixed in a few varsity starters on their bench. Freshman forward Teegan Roach secured seven points and 11 total rebounds. She also added one block. Roach said that although the team didn’t know the Bluejays’ lineup going into the game, the Chaps proved they can keep up with the stronger teams on the schedule.

“We didn’t know going in,” she said. “We knew what we were looking at, and based off of the other games, we knew we didn’t recognize a couple of the players. At the end of the day, we just had to do what we could do to play and play well. I think that we proved that we can hang with any team if we play together.”

Talley explained how close games like this give COD boosts of confidence as they move through the rest of the season.

“Every game is a learning experience,” she said. “What I hope we learn from this is that we can hang with some talented players. The cool thing about this game is [Elmhurst] had a couple of their varsity players on their team. For them to be able to hang around and do some damage like Sierra did against this four-year institution and score 37 points is huge. That just means we can compete when we put our minds to it. We just got to make sure we have that mentality every game and not come out just expecting to win.”

The Chaparrals look to bounce back against the Malcolm X College Hawks (6-4) at 5 p.m. on Jan. 18 in Chicago, Ill.