The basketball team plans on doubling what it did last weekend. Finishing second in the Army Tip-off tournament, the Red played to its full potential in the first game. The women forgot to bring their intensity to the second game, in which they fell 71-60 against Army.
The Red played a great first game against Loyola of Chicago, handily defeating it 76-60. Freshman Karen Force led the squad with 13 points and eight assists. With her help, the team hopes to bring its winning attitude on the road this weekend.
The cagers head down South to Georgia for the Atlanta Marriott Northwest Classic Tournament. They will battle Georgia Tech on Saturday in the warmth of the peach state. While the Red takes on the Yellow Jackets, the two other teams in the competition will play, Mount St. Mary’s (Md.) and Winthrop.
The team is ready to get out of town and show off its new look, with five freshmen heavily contributing in playing time. The Red is looking for a lot out of Force and teammate Tanya Karcic.
“We are very excited to go to Atlanta,” sophomore Ify Ossai commented. “This will be a good chance to show what we can do. The Georgia team is big-all around. They play big time basketball, in the ACC, and they are a big team physically.”
The Yellow Jackets advanced to the quarterfinals of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament last season, and are looking to the NCAA championship this year.
The Underdogs
Ossai noted, “We definitely are the underdogs coming in — we don’t have anything to lose. The team is ready to tear it up on the court. We have a great chance of doing some damage.”
The Red learned a lot this past weekend, and it knows it has to prepare for two games.
“Last weekend we came out real strong in the first game, but in the second game we didn’t open up hard enough,” said sophomore Lynell Davis.
Davis added, “There should be good competition in Atlanta, we can get ready for the Ivy season. We plan on coming out both games with the intent to kill.”
The team knows it has to concentrate on running its offense, play hard and hit the other ballers with intense defense. The Red has prepared this time for two games, and it hopes that the South can handle its coming down and ripping up O’Keefe Gymnasium.
“We can win this thing if we put our whole hearts into it,” summarized Ossai.
Archived article by Cammy Kandiko