Harford hands Skipjack women first loss

WYE MILLS – Harford Community College routed Chesapeake College, 70-47, to hand the Skipjacks their first loss of the women's basketball season and snap a 12-game winning streak that dated back to last year's national tournament.

Guard Tiffany Taylor scored a game-high 26 points, including the first 11 points in a 15-0 run that put the Owls in front to stay.  Fellow guards Capree Garner (24 points) and Shelby Key (11 points) also scored in double digits for Harford, which used its speed to force 25 Skipjack turnovers.

"I've got to take my hat off to Harford," said Chesapeake head coach Damon Nichols, whose program had won 26 of its previous 27 games.  "They came in, played hard and beat an undefeated team, which is what everyone wants to do."

Harford (14-1 overall, 5-1 league), Chesapeake (9-1, 5-1), and Montgomery College (12-3, 5-1) are now tied for the Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference lead.  CCBC-Dundalk (13-5, 6-2) and Cecil College (10-5, 5-2) are just one game back in the loss column.

"We have to learn from this game and we've got to regroup and play our game," said Nichols, who wasn't pleased with either the Skipjacks' effort or execution.  "We go out and play like this on Wednesday (against Baltimore City Community College) and we're coming home with a loss.  BCCC is not going to roll over and let us win, and then we've got Cecil on Friday."

Chesapeake led just once, at 5-4, after Cierra Tourville scored off her own miss with 15:35 remaining in the first half.  That's when Taylor took over, scoring 11 straight points as Harford's defense held the Skipjacks scoreless for nearly six-and-a-half minutes.

The Skipjacks actually worked their way back into the game, using a 10-1 run to pull within 24-21 before settling for a 26-21 halftime deficit.  Denver Clyde had five of her eight points during the 10-1 spurt, which also included a 3-pointer from Brittany Taylor (10 points).

"If you come in a game not focused and playing selfish basketball against a team like that, you're in trouble," said Nichols.  "It could easily have gotten out of hand in the first half, but we played our way back into it.  Then the wheels fell off in the second half."

Chesapeake shot just 32 percent from the field, 17 percent from the 3-point line, and 46 percent (6-for-13) from the foul line.

Najah Chambers led Chesapeake with 12 points.

"Brittany Taylor, Najah Chambers and Brianna Lawson really played well for us," said Nichols, adding that the loss heightens the importance of upcoming games against contending teams.

"This is going to be a gut-check for this team," said Nichols.  "We have the bulk of our schedule coming up."