Skipjack women need OT to stay undefeated
BALTIMORE – The Skipjacks avoided – but just barely – an initial misstep in a 15-day stretch that includes games against four of their biggest Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference women's basketball rivals.
Denver Clyde scored a game-high 25 points and pulled down 11 rebounds Wednesday night as Chesapeake College rallied for an 85-80 overtime victory at CCBC-Dundalk. Sydney Small and Brittany Taylor each added 21 points for the unbeaten Skipjacks, who overcame a 40-33 halftime deficit and an early lack of intensity to stay atop the conference race.
"I take my hat off to Dundalk – (Lions head coach) Rob Long gets his kids to play hard for him," said Chesapeake head coach Damon Nichols. "This is going to happen every time until somebody beats us. Everybody is going to be gunning for us."
The win kept the Skipjacks (9-0 overall, 5-0 league) just ahead of Montgomery College (11-3, 4-1) and Harford Community College (11-1, 3-1) in the conference standings. CCBC-Dundalk (13-5, 6-2), Cecil College (10-4, 5-2) and Frederick Community College (8-6, 3-2) are all two games back of Chesapeake in the loss column.
The Skipjacks have now won 12 straight games dating back to last season, two games shy of the school record for consecutive wins set last season. Nichols said the winning streak was jeopardized Wednesday night mainly by defensive lapses.
"We just couldn't get going on defense," said Nichols, whose team hosts Harford Community College Monday at 5 p.m. in another conference showdown. "That's the most points we've given up all year. We weren't talking on defense and we were letting in a lot of penetration, which was allowing them a lot more offensive options."
Nichols also pointed to Chesapeake's 20-for-38 effort from the line, which included two misses by Najah Chambers with 0.8 seconds remaining in regulation and the game tied, 73-73.
"You would think we didn't shoot free throws at all in practice," said Nichols. "They're called free throws for a reason – they're free. . . . We've got to knock them down."
After Monday's game with Harford, the Skipjacks play next Wednesday at Baltimore City Community College (4-8, 3-4) before returning home to host Cecil College next Friday at 5 p.m. in another critical league contest.
If there was a bright spot in Wednesday's game – despite just escaping with the win – Nichols said it was that his team survived with a group of core players still working their way back into shape. Clyde, Cierra Tourville (six points, five rebounds), and Rose Smith (two points, three rebounds) have all missed extensive time due to injuries and are just rounding into form.
"You look at those numbers she (Clyde) put up and she's not even in basketball shape yet," said Nichols. "When she gets in basketball shape, the sky's the limit for her."
As for Smith – who was seeing her first action of the season – and Tourville, Nichols said, "As they got in, there were crucial parts of the game where they helped out. I can't wait until they're in basketball shape, too."
Nichols hopes his team learned a lesson from the overtime escape.
"I'm proud of our kids that we pulled it out, but I'm hoping this was an eye-opener for them going into these tough games," said Nichols, looking ahead to a difficult schedule. "Any time you let your guard down, they are going to try to beat you. Everybody wants to beat an undefeated team."
Carissa Williams scored 22 points to lead Dundalk. Teammate Troiquay Malloy scored 16 points, including 12 after halftime.