Things Starting to Click for Women’s Basketball Team, Two Home Games on Tap

The Eagle women's basketball team showed progress during a 72-69 victory over the host team on the first night of the Hartnell Tournament in early December.

With a 2-5 record in November while facing a lot of tough competition, the young Eagles put it together after Thanksgiving break. They followed the win over Hartnell with a 75-37 blowout against Foothill.

"There's been some growing pains with so many freshmen in one group," said head coach Noelle Collier. "We've had to work out some kinks." On the plus side, she said, "Everybody loves basketball. They spend extra time in the gym, want to watch film and talk about it. They really want to win."

Four of the Eagles' losses in November were against teams that were ranked top 11 in the state last year and have hit the hardwood running again this season. That includes Sierra (4-2 this season), Folsom Lake (10-0), San Francisco (7-1), and Fresno (8-4). The other loss was to Skyline (7-3), which got some votes for the state's Top 25 last year.

Hartnell was ranked 24th in the state last year and had a 5-4 record before losing to the Eagles and then defeating Feather River the next day.

Collier said turnovers hurt the Eagles in high pressure games last month when they averaged 25 per game and even a few more than that in losses to Sierra, San Francisco, and Fresno at Sierra's Sasha Brown Crossover the weekend before Thanksgiving. She said they stayed close in the first half of all three games, which all ended with Eagles putting 58 points on the board.

Their ball control was much better against Hartnell (19 turnovers) and Foothill (12), and it made a difference in the end.

It also helped the Eagles had their best three-point shooting game of the season against Hartnell, making 11 of 28 attempts (39.3%), and they had season highs for free throw attempts (34) and free throws made (23).

Guard Alexes Collier, one of the two sophomores on the roster, was 9 for 12 from the free throw line, 2 for 4 from beyond the arc, and led the Eagles with 19 points. She also had 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

Guard/forward K'shalee Smartt-Thomas made 4 of her 6 three-point attempts and scored 15 points. Guard/forward Alayja Oliver scored 12 points, and guard/forward Kady Lindstrom

was 5 for 6 on free throws and finished with 8 points, 5 assists and a team-high 12 rebounds.

Guard Ashley Wicks scored 9 points and led the team with 6 assists while making 4 of her 6 free throws, and guard Kaitlin Mandell continued contributing off the bench with 9 points.

The other sophomore on the roster, guard Rayana Atkins led the Eagles with 2 offensive rebounds, and she ended the week leading the team in that statistical category with 26 in 9 games.

In the lopsided win over a struggling Foothill team (1-8), the Eagles took only 10 free throws and made 6. But the starters shot 46% from the field and the team-wide 43.5 shooting percentage equaled their season-best mark.

Oliver scored 18 points on 8 for 15 shooting with 4 rebounds, and Collier was 6 for 14 from the floor and scored 16 points with 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. Lindstrom was 6 for 7 from the floor and finished with a double-double (13 points and 11 rebounds). She also had 5 offensive rebounds, 5 steals, and 3 assists. Mandell came off the bench to score 12 points and grab 3 steals; Wicks had 6 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals; Smartt-Thomas scored 5 points with 2 steals and blocked shot; Atkins had 5 steals, 3 assists, and 3 rebounds; Annabell McCarthy had 3 offensive and 5 total rebounds; and Naima Head had an assist.

For the season, six Eagles are averaging 8 points or more per game, led by Collier's 18.1, Mandell's 12.3, Oliver's 9.8, Wicks' 8.6, Lindstrom's 8.4, and Smartt-Thomas' 8.0.

A returning all-conference award winner, Collier's scoring average is nearly identical to last year. But she's taking a few fewer shots per game, taking and making more free throws, getting more rebounds and steals, and turning it over less.

Coach Collier said opposing teams are making it more difficult for Alexes to shoot threes, and she's being more selective about her shots. She's also focusing more on free throw shooting, as evidenced by the 1,000 free throws she took during Thanksgiving break.

Wicks is helping alleviate some of the pressure by doing a good job of bringing the ball up, something Alexes did more often last year, according to the coach.

Wicks and Lindstrom lead the team with 30 assists each. Lindstrom leads the team with 10.1 rebounds per game and a 76.9% free throw shooting percentage. Mandell is coming off the bench to shoot a team-best 39.8% on field goals and 38.2% on three-pointers. Collier has 23 steals and Wicks has 20. Collier is shooting 70.3% from the free throw line and Oliver 66.7%. Collier is second on the team with 7 rebounds per game and third with 25 assists.

Playing three games at the Napa Valley tournament Dec. 11, 12 and 13, the Eagles were making their shortest road trip of the preseason. They'll then return home for the first time in a month and a half to face Sacramento City (3-6) on Tuesday night, Dec. 16, at 5 pm.

After games against Lemoore (7-5) and Cuesta (6-6) on Dec. 18 and 20 in San Luis Obispo, the Eagles will end the preseason at home against Yuba at 2 pm. On Dec 30.

Their first conference game is scheduled for Jan. 7 at Lassen.

By Steve Gerace