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Updated October 25th, 2004
The Lady Cardinals have been very busy this past month since practice started. " I am really pleased with the direction the girls are going right now. This is a really fun team to coach, because there are some great personalities on this team. There is never a dull moment. These girls are fun to be around. On top of that they work hard and try to do what is asked of them. I don't know how many games we will win, but I wouldn't trade this team for any team in the country" says Coach Matthews. We know the Lady Cardinals will be ready for Nov. 2.
The Lady Cardinals went on a trip to Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri. While they were gone they scrimmaged Saint Catherine Community College which they won and they finished the trip by playing in the Heartland Jamboree in Warrensburg, MO. The girls got to do many fun thing on the week long trip. They got to practice in E.A. Diddle Arena on the campus of Western Kentucky University. The Ladies went to Nashville, TN and visited Opry Mills which is a huge mall in Nashville. The girls then went to see Downtown Nashville and ate at the spaghetti factory. On Saturday they toured Churchill Downs and the Louisville Slugger Factory in Louisville, KY. The girls were worn out when they returned Sunday night, but everyone had a great time.
The Lady Cardinals were ranked 5th in the Pre-Season Coaches Poll that came out at the annual coaches meeting on October. 18. This seemed awful low considering that 4 out of 5 starters return from last years fourth place team plus the additions of Kizzy Hart, Brittney Coleman, and Daiane Domingos. "We don't worry about pre-season rankings. We have some great coaches in this league, but they are not very good at predicting finishing orders. For three years now we have finished higher then the pre-season prediction. We are going to roll the balls out and settle it on the floor. We have never finished lower then 5th since I have been here and we have hosted two playoff games. I think great things are in store for us this year."
November 4, 2004
The Lady Cardinals took on the Mid-American Nazarene University JV on November 2. You could not have asked for a better opening night. The crowd was great and there was excitement in the air. The Lady Cardinals led 48-14 at the half and went on to win 86-42. Everyone got to play and 4 girls scored in double figures. Coach Matthews was pleased with the effort, " I am happy to get the year started. We made many mistakes tonight, but we did some things right. We played hard, we rebounded well, and we pushed the ball above average. I really liked how my sophomores led the team and how some of my freshmen stepped up to play. All in all it was a good night." The women will travel to Cottey College on November 6.
Priscila Nascimento 15pts, Kizzy Hart 14pts, Joiceline Thesing 13pts, Rachel Heston 12pts, Daiane Domingos 9pts, Breana Link 9pts, Amy Bowen 8pts, Brittney Coleman 4pts, and Courtney Irvine 2pts.
Nov. 20, 2004
The Labette Women's Basketball Team continues to roll. They had there best quality win to date on Tuesday of this week against a very good State Fair team. The women from Labette were behind for most of the game, but started a comeback with about 13 minutes left in the game. Once the girls got the lead they never trailed again. As the case has been this entire year several kids stepped up at different times. The great thing about this team is that you can't key just on one person. Everyone can score and the girls are very unselfish.
-The women had a recruit on campus and she verbally committed to play for the Lady Cardinals next season. I know Coach Matthews thought she could be a really good player for the Lady Cardinals next season.
-Erica Elliott is back in uniform. She has seen the Doctor and the knee is very strong. It is just a matter of her working herself back into shape.
-Brittney Coleman who missed the State Fair game is back and played against Southwestern JV. She was gone to Michigan to attend a funeral.
Coach Matthews wants to encourage everyone to come out on Monday at 6pm to watch the Lady Cardinals take on Central Christian College JV. If the women can win it would tie the best start in school history.
Updated 11/30/04:
The Lady Cardinals are going to start putting our stats up on this link after games. So, if you want a run down of the scoring you can visit here or you can visit http://www.kjccc.org/ to find more in depth stats from the Lady Cardinals.
Erica Elliott was seen by the doctor yesterday and was given a clean bill of health. This will help with our depth in the post.
Marshalltown:
Kizzy H. 19pts, 7reb, and 3 steals
Amy B. 16pts, 4reb, and 2 steals
Priscila N. 12pts, 7reb, and 8 steals
Brittney C. 10pts, 5reb, and 1 steal
Rachel H. 4pts, Joiceline T. 6pts, Breana L. 7pts, and Daiane D. 2pts.
Players Of The Game:
Kizzy Hart- She hit some big threes in the second half to really give us a spark. She has started to come into her own as a leader.
Amy Bowen- She is a great defender and came up with some big plays on the defensive end of the floor when Marshalltown was making a run. She has also become very good a scoring the basketball. She is a great leader for this team.
Seminole State:
Rachel H. 22pts, 5reb, and 2 steals
Kizzy H. 18pts, 7reb, and 2 steals
Priscila N. 14pts, 6reb, and 2 steals
Brittney C. 8pts, Amy B. 6pts/6reb, Joiceline T. 2pts/7reb.
Player Of The Game:
Rachel Heston- She is a tremendous scorer and she showed that on Saturday. She stepped up against very good competition and really hit some critical shots. She was a perfect 12 for 12 from the free throw line in this game.
OBU JV:
Kizzy H. 22pts
Jade B. 14pts
Priscila N. 12pts
Breana L. 10pts
Rachel H. 10pts
Amy B. 8pts, Brittney C. 8pts, Daiane D. 8pts, Courtney I. 7pts,
Joiceline T. 3pts.
Player Of The Game:
Jade Barnes: She is a freshmen post player that has not gotten much playing time. However, she continues to improve and she really showed her offensive skills in this game. She is going to be a tremendous player for the Lady Cardinals in the future.
Updated 12/8/04:
The Lady Cardinals dropped two games at the Jayhawk Shootout over the weekend. Coach Matthews didn't seem to concerned about the loses, "It was getting about time. We had stopped wanting to practice and we had lost a lot of focus. You could see this coming for about the last week. It never hurts to get your wings clipped a little early in the season." "This is a very tough part of our schedule. We played a very good Butler team and #15 NEO A&M. Our next two games are at #5 Johnson County and #20 Cowley County. I think we can compete with anyone as we showed in the NEO game. However, this is a tough stretch and we are not going to panic whatever happens. We have been kicked out of our gym while they are redoing the floor and we have not had the preparation time that we would have liked, so we have several things going against us right now. We will be fine and this will be a special team in the end. Everyone needs to be patient and talk to me in March."
Butler 12/3/04:
"Butler is a very well coached basketball team and they played very hard today. The deserved to win and we didn't. We did not prepare for the game and it showed. Our effort was horrible and we shot 31% from the field. You don't win games that way."
"The officiating didn't lose this game for us. It was about what I expect in the Jayhawk Shootout. It never fails in this event that breaks seem to be a little one sided."
Joiceline Thesing: 4/10FG; 12points
Kizzy Hart: 3/13 FG; 2/7 3pt; 11points
Rachel Heston 8pts, Priscila Nascimento 6pts, Amy Bowen 6pts, Jade Barnes 4pts, Breana Link 4pts, Daiane Domingos 4pts.
Player Of The Game:
"We will skip that award for this game."
NEO A&M: 12/5/04:
" I thought we played much harder in this game. We are down 5 at half and 10 with about 8 minutes to go in the game. If the charge call had not been made this might have been a different game. If the undercut had been called that would have put the lead to 8 with a foul shot. We are down 7 with 7 minutes to play in the game and it is a different game. The thing I hate is not only did the official miss the call; the other official calls a technical foul when no one was talking to him. So, we end up being down 14 instead of 7 due too no fault of our own. I am not one to blame officials for a lose and I don't know whether we would have won or not. It is just unfortunate that this seems to happen time and time again in the Jayhawk shootout."
"I am so happy this event is over. I hate this event for several reasons, but I don't want to offend people with my list. In my humble opinion it is unfortunate that we are under contract to play in the event."
" Our team is getting better and I would take my chances versus NEO in about a month. Our kids learned something this weekend and this will be a different team come mid January. I look forward to the rest of the season."
Daiane Domingos: 8/13 FG; 1/1 3pt; 19pts
Kizzy Hart: 5/12 FG; 2/7 3pt; 16pts
Breana Link: 4/6 FG; 1/2 3pt; 13pts
Rachel Heston 5pts, Priscila Nascimento 6pts, Brittney Coleman 2pts, Joiceline Thesing 2pts.
Joiceline Thesing: "I think Joiceline will be fine when everything is said and done. She has not played as well as she could and she has been a little beat up lately. She had 4 fouls in 4 minutes in this game. Again, it is hard for officials to understand that she is 6'5 and can probably block a shot or reach over someone for a rebound without making body contact. On the other end she is having trouble finishing right now, but it is hard to finish with people hanging on your arms. She so big she really gets the short end of the stick. However, she has to learn to play through all of that."
Player Of The Game:
Daiane Domingos: "Di kept us in this game. She came out ready to play and she is tough to defend. She can post up and she can step out on the wing. I hope she will continue to stay focused and play the way she is capable of each night."
Johnson County Game 12/14/04:
"We did not shoot the ball very well in this game. I thought we hung in there and allowed our defense to get our offense started. It is always a struggle to get kids to really focus and play sharp during this time of year. I thought we played with more energy in the second half and didn't stand on the offensive end as much as we did during the first half. I really challenged our sophomores at halftime to step up and perform in the second half. I thought they did that especially Breana. I was really proud of her and what she did in the second half of this game. Anytime you get a win at Johnson County you have to be happy."
Breana Link: 17pts, 1 block, 2 steals, and 7 rebounds
Kizzy Hart: 15pts, 4 assists, 2 blocks, and 7 steals
Priscila Nascimento: 2pts, 10 rebounds, and 3 steals
Amy Bowen: 4pts and 4 steals
Daiane 2pts, Brittney 4pts, Erica 4pts
Joiceline, Jade, and Connie played but did not score.
Player Of The Game:
Breana Link: "Bre is a tremendous talent. She is a 5'10 rebounding/ three point shooting machine. She is a very hard match-up. She can post up, she can shoot the three, and she can put the ball on the floor. She is a very capable player and she continues to get better everyday. I am really proud of her progress and what she is accomplishing here a Labette."
Neosho County Game 1/9/05:
"We didn't play real great. We looked like we had not played in a month. I thought we did some really good things after the first few minutes of each half. Our defense was good for most of the night. I just didn't like our offensive execution during certain parts of the game, but I liked the win. Anytime you can win in the Jayhawk you need to be happy."
Kizzy Hart- 17pts
Breana Link- 12pts
Daiane Domingos- 13pts
Priscila 3pts, Rachel 8pts, Brittney 6pts, Amy 3pts, Joiceline 4pts, and Erica E. played but did not score.
Player Of The Game:
Rachel Heston- "I thought Rachel did a really good job keeping us in the game the first half. Rachel is a really good player. She can shoot the three and she can slash to the hole. She scored some big points for us tonight and even got some steals on the defensive end."
Update 1/14/05:
Cowley County (Away) 1/10/05:
"This game was real simple they played very hard and executed very well and we did not. We got off to a very good start, but could not maintain our intensity. We did not do the things we normally do and in big games that gets you beat. Cowley is a very good and well coached basketball team. They deserve all the credit."
"I don't think the officials beat us. I like the three that officiated our game and I think they are a good crew. However, when one team shots 41 free throws and another team shoots 15 it makes it a little difficult. When you give a team like Cowley an opportunity to score 30 points from the free throw line, they are probably going to win most games."
Kizzy Hart: 14pts, 2 assists, and 1 steal
Daiane Domingos: 11pts, 9 reb., and 2 steals
Priscila N. 6pts, Breana L. 6pts, Courtney I. 5pts, Rachel H. 5pts.
Erica E., Connie H., Joiceline T., Jade B., Amy B., and Brittney C. played but did not score.
Player of the Game:
Mandy East and Shana Bryant: "These young ladies are our managers this season. They have done a tremendous job all year and have taken a great deal of pressure off me. They get our equipment ready to go and do a wonderful job during the games. I really appreciate the hard work of both these girls."
Highland Community College (Away) 1/12/05:
"We played fairly well tonight. I thought we corrected some of the things we had done so bad in the Cowley game. Our offense really started to click in the second half. We finally started moving and making cuts to score."
"Joiceline finally awoke from the dead tonight and did some really good things. It shows that it is not a problem of her not knowing how to get the job done, it is a problem of her wanting to get the job done on a nightly bases."
"I was really proud of my freshmen Courtney Irvine, Jade Barnes, and Connie Heiniger. They got their first start tonight and took us to a 10-0 lead. They have made a tremendous improvement this season. I am really excited about the future of Lady Cardinal Basketball."
Amy B. 23pts, 2 assists, and 10 steals
Joiceline T. 13pts and 4 reb.
Rachel H. 10pts, 2 assists, and 3 steals
Kizzy H. 9pts, Daiane D. 7pts, Courtney I. 7pts, Connie H. 5pts, Priscila N. 3pts, Brittney C. 6pts, Jade B. 4pts, Erica E. 4pts. Breana L. played but did not score.
Player of the Game:
Amy Bowen- "This kid is a tremendous defensive player. She got a hand on numerous balls tonight and came up with 10 steals. She also is a great three point shooter and a really good rebounder. She is really the secret that makes this team go. She is just a flat out winner."