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Lady Busters earn 20th win at Dodge
[January 28, 2013]

Lady Busters earn 20th win at Dodge


DODGE CITY, Jan 28, 2013 (The Garden City Telegram - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The Garden City Community College women's basketball team's focus now, as it's been all season, is to play full-effort for a complete game.



The No. 12 Lady Broncbusters weren't quite there Sunday in a 62-43 road win over the Lady Conquistadors at United Wireless Arena, but it was enough to nab their 20th win of the season.

"Our focus today was really playing 40 minutes," GCCC head coach Alaura Sharp said. "We've obviously seen all our games, and we've really kind of picked and chosen when we wanted to play hard. I thought today was better, but there were definitely 2- and 3-minute segments where we really lost our intensity and our focus." Garden City (20-2, 6-2 KJCCC) looked great in spurts, and a little lackadaisical at other times. When they were on, the Busters moved the ball well on offense and put away their chances, and on defense, were smothering in their zone look.


Tamara Jones and Deni Jacobs both had double-doubles for the Busters. Jones had a game-high 20 points and 15 rebounds, while Jacobs added 17 and 10. Jacobs' success early in the game when the Conqs were double-teaming Jones in the post opened things up for GCCC the rest of the game.

"When Deni was aggressive, Deni had a great game," Sharp said. "She got some easy baskets. That started loosening Tamara up a bit, which is what we need to happen. We need other people to step up and make plays to loosen up our leading scorer." But for a while, they missed some easy looks on offense and were soft on the other end of the floor. Garden City went up 51-29 with 11 minutes, 26 seconds to play, then scored just one point over the next seven minutes.

During that stretch, Jones uncharacteristically missed a pair of layups, and the Busters couldn't convert some other open looks.

"We were getting the looks that we want, we just weren't stepping up and finishing those plays," Sharp said. "Not consistently. We did in stretches, but not consistently, and that's the biggest area that we've gotta get fixed." Dodge City (7-14, 1-6) cut into the lead, mainly going to Rodeshia Moulton in the post. Moulton had 12 points to lead the Conqs, who got back to within 52-38.

Garden City out-rebounded Dodge City 48-28, dominating aside from a stretch where the Conqs got their hands on a bunch of loose ball offensive rebounds, although they had just two second-chance points.

"When we made the commitment to defense, they took tough shots, we got loose balls. We were able to really keep them in front," Sharp said. "As soon as we got back on our heels defensively, they really cut up our defense. They attacked the baseline, they got easy looks, they got offensive rebounds, or we sent them to the foul line." In the first half, with Jones being doubled in the post, Jacobs stepped up and went 5-of-8 in the first half and had 12 points in the period to lead all scorers.

Jameeshia Armstrong hit a 3-pointer with 5:38 to play in the first to make it 20-18, but that was the last field goal for the Conqs in the half. The Busters finished the period on a 13-1 run.

Garden City gets an extended break with a bye on Wednesday, before heading to Butler for a 5:30 p.m. game on Saturday. In the meantime, Sharp said the Busters' need 40 minutes of effort each game, rather than 30.

"If we want to make a run at things, we've gotta get that corrected, and we've got to get that corrected quickly," she said. "There's no excuses for numbers or sickness or anything. It's one of those things, you've got to step on the floor, and you've got to make the commitment to how good your team wants to be." Notes: Sophomore forward Nicole Young returned to the Garden City Community College women's basketball team after an absence of two weeks.

Young was one of four Lady Broncbusters who left the team two weekends ago due to internal reasons. The Washington, D.C. native flew back to Garden City on Thursday, and was at the team's Friday and Saturday practices.

"The team was really excited to have her back," GCCC head coach Alaura Sharp said. "I thought the last couple days in practice, we had a little pep in our step. I think that they're excited about that." Young played 7 minutes, 18 seconds in the Busters' 62-43 win over Dodge City on Sunday, going 0-2 from the field, 0-1 at the free throw line and picking up a pair of fouls.

Sharp said it was Young's decision to leave the team, and credited the Busters with encouraging her to come back.

"I think her teammates just stayed on her, and knew that it was best for her, as a person, to continue in the program," Sharp said.

The Busters had played their last four games with just a seven-player rotation, and just three post players.

Now, it's just a matter of Young getting back into proper game shape.

"She's gotta improve her rebounding," Sharp said. "But as far as her post defense, I think it's pretty good. Bottom line is, the bye game came at a good time for her, because we can spend some time getting her in shape." ---- Garden City (62) -- Jacobs 7-11 3-5 17, Green 2-9 2-2 6, Pope 4-8 3-6 11, Chisom 3-6 0-0 6, Chinn 0-0 2-4 2, Maxwell 0-1 0-0 0, Jones 8-16 3-4 20, Young 0-2 0-1 0. Totals 24-53 13-22 62.

Dodge City (43) -- Salazar 2-8 0-0 6, Cramer 1-1 0-0 2, Briggs 1-3 0-0 3, Westmoreland 0-2 0-0 0, Armstrong 2-16 1-2 6, Buckner 2-6 1-3 5, Tolar 2-6 0-0 5, McCauley 2-2 0-1 4, Mouton 5-8 2-4 12. Totals 17-52 4-10 43.

Halftime--Garden City 33-19. 3-point goals--Garden City 1-6 (Jones 1-2, Green 0-3, Chisom 0-1), Dodge City 5-22 (Salazar 2-8, Briggs 1-3, Tolar 1-3, Armstrong 1-6, Buckner 0-2). Fouled out--none. Rebounds--Garden City 48 (Jones 15), Dodge City 25 (Armstrong 7). Assists--Garden City 17 (Chinn 5), Dodge City 11 (Armstrong 4). Turnovers--Garden City 13, Dodge City 14. Total fouls--Garden City 13, Dodge City 17.

___ (c)2013 The Garden City Telegram (Garden City, Kan.) Visit The Garden City Telegram (Garden City, Kan.) at www.gctelegram.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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