Wolves Fall to Knights Despite Carolina Montes' Career Day
College Place, Wash. – Walla Walla and Warner Pacific concluded their weekend season series earlier this afternoon. A 14-4 run to end the first half would fuel the Knights (12-7, 8-4 CCC) to victory over the Wolves (2-19, 1-11 CCC), despite another scoring record for Wolves guard Carolina Montes (29 points).
The opening period saw the Knights and Wolves open up with heavy pressure on defense, as no team found a rhythm on offense in the opening minutes of the quarter. Carolina Montes put the Wolves on the scoreboard with a deep three-pointer at the 7:30 mark to tie the game up 3-3. From here, the Knights used ball movement to fuel a 5-0 run that would break the tie. After the under-five minute media timeout the Wolves received a spark on the offensive boards, as Holly Wagner and Titi Graham cleaned up the offensive glass and converted those second chance opportunities to tie the game up 10-10. The Knights, however, regrouped and held the Wolves to a Montes jumper the remaining three minutes and took a 19-12 advantage after the opening quarter.
The second quarter would be the Knights best quarter, as Junior guard
Darbi Pink lead a well-balanced offensive attack, recording five points and dishing out four assists in the quarter. The Wolves continued to fight, however, as Carolina Montes posted six of her 14 first-half points in the second quarter. Halfway through the quarter, the Knights found a defensive rhythm that fueled a 14-4 run to close out the first half, taking a 43-25 lead heading into the break.
Opening up the second half, both teams scored back-and-forth as the Wolves continued to answer the Knights attack. Carolina Montes had her best stretch of the game, scoring 10 points in the first three minutes. Montes ended the quarter scoring 13 points, giving her 27 through three quarters and setting a new school scoring record, beating her previous record of 26 she set against Multnomah earlier this season. The Wolves continued to remain within striking distance as Morgan
Stanyer converted a three-point play to cut the Knights lead to 14. The Knights, however, responded with 9-4 run to close out the quarter and took a 64-45 lead heading into the final quarter.
Entering the fourth quarter, the Wolves looked to seize every opportunity to inch their way back into the game. A Morgan
Stanyer jumper put the Wolves down by 14 with seven-plus minutes in the game. The Knights, however, would squash a Wolves comeback as Knights senior guard
Kendyl Cone scored five quick points to extend her teams lead to 19. Cone went on to score 10 points in the quarter to lead her team to victory over the Wolves, 80-57. Montes would have a quiet quarter, but would add to her scoring record by knocking down a pair of free-throws to give her 29 points for the game.
Ball movement was present throughout this game as Walla Walla set a season high in assists (14) and Warner Pacific posted their fifth 20+ assist game. The Knights were led in scoring by
Kendyl Cone (14 points) and Grace Pom (12 points) while the Wolves were led by Carolina Montes (29 points) and Morgan
Stanyer (11 points)
The Wolves return to action next weekend, traveling to La Grande, Ore. to take on No. 13 Eastern Oregon University (17-2, 11-0 CCC). The first matchup is scheduled for Friday, January 25 at 1:00 p.m. inside the Quinn Coliseum.