The College of DuPage women’s basketball team fell short against a Bryant & Stratton squad, which consisted of only five starters and two substitutes. With the combination of 18 crucial turnovers and allowing second-chance opportunities, the Chaparrals fell behind early and ended the game with a 92-66 loss.

“We didn’t come out ready to go, but in the second half we came out ready,” said head women’s basketball coach Abby Talley. “This is not the same DuPage team that beat Triton or held Oakton [Community College] to 47 [points]. This is a team that just looked like they didn’t want to be here today.”

Prior to the game, B&S came into the game with an 11-7 record and an active three-game winning streak. This season, the Bobcats average shooting 38% from the field and 23% from the three-point line.

The Chaparrals struggled to maintain Bobcat’s Becker and Yan’s 23 and 26-point performances. The Chaparral’s largest lead of the game was only by two points in the first quarter. The final score followed a lapse on defense that saw the Chaparrals surrender 30 points in the fourth quarter.

Despite the loss, sophomore guard Sierra Gibson finished the game with 20 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.

“I think we lost this game with our defensive efforts and allowed them to get a lot of backdoor cuts,” said Gibson. “When I started scoring, I felt like I needed to get the energy going, and when I couldn’t score, I was looking for my teammates.”

Freshman guard Megan Martinez found successful shooting from behind the three-point line and finished the game with 14 points and three rebounds.

“I wished we could’ve started the game better, and we just played horribly in the first half,” said Martinez. “I still do not think my performance was good enough in this game because of our defense. We just have to come together and find a connection to come back for the next game.”

Sophomore center Sarah Topps finished the game with 14 points and three rebounds. Topps believed the Bobcat’s athleticism and hunger to win the game made up for their short-handed squad.

“They are a great team and very athletic,” said Topps. “It was definitely great competition for us, but we just needed to close out their shooters. We kept giving them momentum and allowed them to give each other the ball.”

The Chaparrals finished the game shooting 30% from the field and 22% from the three-point line.

COD is now 6-15 and will host Kankakee Community College (9-10) at COD on Jan. 30.