Coming off of their largest win of the season against Montcalm Community College last week Saturday, the Grand Rapids Community College women’s basketball team looked to carry their momentum over into their first conference game of the season against Kellogg Community College. After trailing by 21 points, the Raiders put together a run in order to make the closing minutes an intense battle, but ultimately came up short, losing 86-80.
The first quarter was a back-and-forth between the two teams, with the Raiders leading by three with five minutes left in the quarter before a 7-0 run by Kellogg ensued. Kellogg’s lead grew to as much as six in the quarter before sophomore guard Tia Richard took over. Richard scored the last eight points of the frame for the Raiders, including an and-one midrange and a deep 3-pointer with 10 seconds left. Richards finished the quarter with 12 of the Raiders 22 points, sophomore forward Ava Schultz added along eight points of her own, including two 3-pointers. The Raiders went into the second quarter leading 22-21.
The second quarter was dominated by Kellogg, outscoring GRCC 26-12, giving the Bruins a 47-34 lead at halftime. A recurring theme in the second quarter was Kellogg’s ability to dominate the paint, where 22 of their points came from in the quarter. Kellogg shot 11-15 from two and were unstoppable once they reached the paint. The Raiders struggled offensively in the second quarter, shooting 3-16 overall (18.8%) and 1-8 from three (12.5%). Kellogg took the lead just two minutes into the quarter and didn’t give it back up for the rest of the frame, GRCC faced an uphill battle going into the second half.
GRCC fought back in the third quarter; after trailing by 21 points, the Raiders were able to trim the deficit to just 11 points heading into the final quarter. Kellogg shot an efficient 6-8 (75%) from the field in the quarter yet managed to only score 18 points. A big reason for this was GRCC’s defense, forcing 13 Kellogg turnovers, in which the Raiders scored 10 of their 20 points off of. The Raiders shot 7-17 (41.2%) from the field in the quarter but limited their turnovers to just seven. The Raiders kept the game within striking distance thanks to a 12-2 run to close the quarter.
The Raiders kept their momentum going into the fourth quarter, opening the frame on a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to just one point, making the game 65-64 in favor of Kellogg. A 3-pointer and a fastbreak layup by freshman guard Tianna Daye gave the Raiders their first lead since the early minutes of the game, 69-67, with under five minutes to play.
Daye continued a stretch of dominant play on the offensive side of the ball to give the Raiders a 77-71 lead with 2:30 left to play in the game. The Raiders were unable to come up with clutch defensive stands required to win the game and conceded a 10-0 run in just over 90 seconds of play. A three-pointer by Richard cut the Kellogg lead to just one point with 40 seconds left, but it was as close as the Raiders would get, as Richard eventually used her fifth foul which left a big hole in the Raiders’ offensive. Clutch free throw shooting by the Bruins down the stretch secured them the 86-80 victory.
Despite the loss, it was an encouraging performance for the Raiders offense which struggled early on in the season. Before last week’s game against Montcalm, GRCC had yet to score more than 61 points, but the team has now scored 80 or more in two consecutive games.
Richard and Daye led the team in scoring against Kellogg with 29 and 27 points, respectively. Schultz put together 14 points, including four 3-pointers. Overall, the Raiders finished the game shooting 30-73 (41.1%) from the field and 10-30 (33.3%) from beyond the arc. The Raiders were able to force many Kellogg turnovers but were unable to cause any disruption in the Bruins’ efficiency, as the team went on to shoot 32-63 (50.8%) from the field.
The Raiders will look to bounce back in their next game against Lake Michigan College on Wednesday, Jan. 15 at 5:30 p.m. at the Ford Fieldhouse.
