Women’s basketball steady in victory over PCC Panthers

The Lady Saints posted a convincing 67-54 victory Wednesday night in their second league game against the PCC Panthers.

Women’s head coach Jocelyn McIntire said the team went into the game with the expectation to win. “They’re a developing team,” McIntire said of the Panthers. “I would say that on paper we should have won that game.”

The Saints led early and were up 36-22 at halftime. The Panthers put up a fight in the second half, and actually outscored the Saints by a point, but couldn’t erase the early deficit.

Sophomore Kelsey O’Neil was the top scorer for the Saints with 15 points and added 4 defensive rebounds. Sophomore Emily Burch put up 14 points and 4 assists.

McIntire said she was happy with the bench players who came ready to play and contribute, but said, “There were parts that were good, but at the end I would say that it was kind of a sub-par game.” She said the team didn’t quite play to its ability but that it’s a long season. “A W is a W so you’ve got to put things in perspective. You can’t hold on to wins or losses for too long because you’ve got another (game) coming around the corner.”

McIntire said the women are working on practicing as if they’re in a game and working on staying positive.

“The difference between great teams and good teams is mental toughness and who’s going to show up night in and night out and perform at that top level,” said McIntire.

The Saints struggled with last Saturday against the Lane Titans when the Saints suffered their first league loss 63-53.

“I was disappointed in the way we started out,” said McIntire. “I thought we played a little scared and timid and we dug ourselves a hole, but once we got into our groove and started to just play the game, we ended up (outscoring) Lane in the second half.”

At halftime of Saturday’s game, the scoreboard showed the Titans leading 37-20. The Saints outscored their opponent in the second half, scoring 33 points to the Titans 26, but it wasn’t enough to snag a win.

Sophomore Emily Burch led the team in scoring with 15 points. She also had 5 defensive rebounds and one assist.

Freshman Kelsey Barnes had 12 defensive rebounds and put eight points on the board.

McIntire said because there were no games over break, she feels the team may have gotten a little behind and hopes that it won’t expose the women too much in early games.

Asked how winter break may have affected the team, McIntire said, “You’ve been on a break, kind of been in your own la-la land for a while, and now you’ve got to crack the whip and get back to business.”

The women play the Umpqua Community College Riverhawks Saturday. It will be their third meeting with the Riverhawks after a loss in early November and a win in December. McIntire is excited and said, “It will be a battle.”The Saints will face the Riverhawks at home 4 p.m. Saturday.