Senior forward Carla Batchelor grabbed a rebound and sprinted down court, weaving through defenders before scoring a layup late in the third quarter to give the Northwest Jaguars (15-3) a 28-point lead.
Soon after, Batchelor was substituted and did not return in the fourth quarter, but her stellar play was no longer needed as her team finished off the Blake Bengals, 65-38.
“She’s tough,” said Bengals head coach Patti Gilmore. “She can go inside and outside so it makes it hard to defend her.”
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The soon-to-be Texas El-Paso Miner, Batchelor did it all – scoring, rebounding, passing, and blocking shots defensively. She also received help from her teammates, including sophomore guard Kendra Meredith and junior guard Hillaevi Mensah, who were very active breaking up passes and forcing turnovers that led to easy baskets for the home team.
“Our defense has won a lot of games this year,” said Cougars head coach Todd Ostrom. “Pressure defense is emphasized throughout the whole year and it definitely came up big for us tonight.”
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Their pressure kept the Bengals scoreless for more than four minutes during the first quarter as an early 4-4 tie quickly swelled to a 26-6 lead. But not long after, Blake responded with a 9-0 run of their own spanning the end of the first quarter until nearly midway through the second quarter.
“I thought we did a better job of trying to get back into the game, cutting [the deficit] to about 10 in the second quarter,” said Gilmore. “But then they hit key shots and we don’t match up well with Batchelor.”
Those key shots came from all over the court. Having their way underneath the hoop, the Jaguars also hit five three-pointers during the game. Batchelor scored 16 of her game-high 20 points in the first half, junior guard Taylor Simpson added 14 points, and Meredith chipped in with 13 points in the win.
Heading into halftime with a 40-18 lead, Ostrom was able to rest his starters for the majority of the second half and allow the Jaguars substitutes to carry the load until the final whistle blew.
Junior guard Caroline Wannen led Blake with a team-high eight points followed by three Bengal players adding seven each.
And as the final buzzer went off, Bengals junior guard Lindsay Comer hit a turnaround jumper but it was to no avail – the Cougars had already sealed the victory.
