By Noli Brown
On Oct. 25, the Grand Rapids Community College women’s basketball team was able to play as a team to take down Kalamazoo College within the last few minutes of their last preseason scrimmage, 73-68.
Both teams got off to a good start and battled back and forth throughout the game.
GRCC came out on the court ready to play and take their first win as a team. The Raiders kept the same energy they started the game with and never gave up on each other.
In the first quarter of play, the Raiders and Hornets were both figuring out how each other played and what they needed to do in order to score efficiently. Following a brief period of play, the Raiders secured their initial baskets and maintained their momentum throughout the rest of the game.
Coming out of halftime, the Raiders led the Hornets and battled back and forth to keep that lead.
In the last few minutes of the game, the Raiders only had a three-point lead. The Hornets full court pressed the Raiders which caused them to turn the ball over, however the Raiders were able to get the ball back and score to give them the victory.
As a newly formed youthful team, the first few games may sometimes feel a bit chaotic, but for GRCC, everything ran seamlessly.
Head Coach David Glazier was pleased with how his team played today, especially with the team being so young.
“I was pretty pleased with it, we looked pretty rough the other day and it was to be expected to a point,” Glazier said. “We are pretty young and doing a lot of things that these kids probably haven’t done a lot of in the past, so we are asking them to do some new stuff and they are getting used to it.”
The Raiders displayed strong team chemistry both on and off the court. They unselfishly distributed the ball among themselves and maintained continuous communication to execute offensive plays while also making sure they had solid defensive coverage.
Freshman guard Olivia McKellar was proud of how her team played together as one today and excited for the future of this season for the GRCC Raiders.
“We played together instead of trying to each individually get shots. There was a lot of communication and we had nothing to lose, so we went all out,” McKellar said. “I’m excited to spend more time with the team and to travel with them. I’m also excited to see how we play and compete against teams in the conference.”
The GRCC Raiders start their official season on the road in Des Plaines, IL on Nov. 3 against Oakton College.
Glazier is excited about the upcoming season and what this team can bring to the court.
“The opportunity to compete and see what this team can be, we have some talented kids, it’s just how they put it together to work as one.”
