Defense Propels Knights Past Walla Walla
College Place, Wash. - The Wolves played as host to the Knights of Warner Pacific University on Saturday night. It was the first of two games in the weekend matchup. The Knights were coming off a 30-point victory against Multnomah University, and were looking to continue their winning ways in hopes of climbing the Cascade Collegiate Conference standings (currently 4
th).
The opening minutes of the game featured suffocating defense from both teams, as the Wolves (2-18, 1-10 CCC) failed to score, and the Knights (11-7, 7-4 CCC) only managed five points with four and a half minutes to play in the first quarter. Following a media timeout, Knights guard
Darbi Pink provided her team with the spark they needed, burying a triple from the top of the key only moments after being subbed into the game. With a minute and a half to go in the first, Carolina Montes provided the Wolves with their long awaited first points as she hit a three-pointer from the wing to cut their deficit to seven at 10-3. It was Pink, however, who proceeded to take over, converting on another three-pointer as well as a wing jumper. Pink finished the first quarter with eight of her team’s 15 points, with the knights holding a 15-3 advantage.
The Wolves continued to struggle in search of a rhythm on offense in the second quarter, and the cohesive full court press of the Knights did not make it any easier. Midway through the quarter, the Knights had constructed a comfortable 23-7 lead. The good ball movement on offense, and the constant harassment on defense continued for the Knights throughout the second quarter as they rapidly generated momentum to take with them to the halftime break. The Knights’ lead was 31-7 as they headed into the locker room.
The offensive attack continued for the Knights in the third quarter as they turned Wolves’ turnovers into easy buckets on the other end, forcing Wolves’ head coach Paul
Starkebaum to call a timeout with the Wolves trailing 43-9 midway through the third. Following the timeout,
Darbi Pink re-entered for the Knights and scored immediately, as she tends to do, inflating the Knights lead to 40 at 54-14 heading into the fourth quarter. The Knights maintained control of the game until the final buzzer sounded, taking the win in the first game of the weekend by a score of 72-28.
The Knights and Wolves will now get some rest before facing off again on Sunday, January 19, at 1:00 p.m.
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