Lady Gophers Basketball Team Falls to Meade

Despite tough playing on the part of the lady Gophers, the Meade Lady Mustangs shut down the young team and go home with a 3-2 record. The lady Gopher's are now 0-3 for the season in the county.

The first half started off well, with Glen Burnie coming out strong hitting the first basket of the game. The Gophers kept the lady Mustangs scoreless for the first three minutes until a 2-point shot from the top of the key by Meade's Jamie McKeither put them on the board.

McKeither's shot was followed by a couple of layups from the lady Mustangs and tough plays both defensively and offensively. The Gophers entered the second period with an eight-point deficit.

The lady Gopher's began the second period playing catch-up, but turnovers and missed baskets gave the Mustangs an early lead. Junior forward Mia Carr hit a 3-pointer midway through the second period which brought the Gophers within four points of the Mustangs.

But with three minutes left in the half, the Gopher's fell behind by 10 points. That difference increased even more with a 3-point shot by Meade putting the Mustangs ahead 35-20 at the half.

Dan Mangum, head coach for Glen Burnie said his guards needed to handle the ball better to avoid turnovers.

"We played hard, we didn't play smart. We turned the ball over too much. If we don't turn the ball over, it's a ball game. But Meade's pretty good, you can't afford to give them all those extra chances," Mangum said.

Glen Burnie came out strong during the second half. For a team that's still learning to play together the lady Gopher's fought hard to keep Meade in check, but by the middle of the third period the Mustangs had a 20-point advantage.

Junior center Brye'Ann Dozier thought the team played very well together.

"I think we played really good, we started to play together as a team and play like it was fourth period the whole time and not first period or second period," Dozier said.

Dozier put up eight points and nine rebounds.

Mangum was pleased with the effort put forth by the young team.

"We only have one senior and she wasn't here tonight so we were playing with a bunch of juniors and sophomores and I was happy with the effort, I really was," Mangum said.

Turnovers continued to plague the young Gopher team and after a few minutes of play the turnovers took their toll and the score was 20-41. Despite a reprimand from the officials to the Meade team and fans for shouting during free throws, the Gophers started the fourth period trailing Meade 30-61.

"We need to work on our turnovers, our turnovers were really bad. If we work on turnovers and foul shots I think we got it," Dozier said.

Mia Carr came out strong in the fourth period hitting a 3-pointer within the first minute of play. It was answered by back to back to back three's by Meade's Kiara Gholson. With under a minute left in the game Carr hit a 2-point shot followed by a free throw that brought the score to 49-81. A foul in the final second of the game gave Meade a free throw that put the final score 49-82.

Carr finished the game with 26 points and six rebounds.

"In the first half we executed. We did what we were supposed to do. Overall we played lovely. We worked together as a team and that was the biggest thing," Carr said.

The lady Gopher's look to get their first 'W' in county-play once the holiday break is over. They play next Jan. 4 at South River.