Skipjacks bounce back against BCCC, 71-56

BALTIMORE – Damon Nichols said his Skipjacks needed to learn from Monday night's 70-47 setback against Harford Community College, which snapped Chesapeake College's 12-game women's basketball winning streak.

Apparently the Skipjacks are pretty quick learners.

Chesapeake College (10-1 overall, 6-1 Maryland JuCo) defeated host Baltimore City Community College, 71-56, Wednesday night as the Skipjacks held the Panthers to 17 first-half points to take control of the game.  The Skipjacks kept pace with Montgomery College (13-3, 6-1) at the top of the state standings as Montgomery routed Allegany College of Maryland, 85-33.

"That's the main thing I had on the board before the game – we had to show we could bounce back," said Nichols.  "They responded well.  We still have some kinks to work out, particularly on the defensive end, but we talked more on defense and played much better than we played Monday night."

Both Chesapeake and Montgomery moved a half-game ahead of idle Harford (14-1, 5-1) after the Owls' game with Garrett College was postponed.  Chesapeake hosts Cecil College (10-6, 5-2) Friday at 5 p.m. in a game with huge state and regional implications.

"It's a big regional showdown," said Nichols.  "Cecil has a competitive, well-coached team every year.  Coach (Andrew) Coston does a great job with that program."

Denver Clyde, held to just eight points Monday by Harford, came back with a team-high 21 points off the bench while fellow sophomore Rose Smith scored 10 points in a reserve role.  Clyde, who shot 3-for-10 from the field against Harford, made 10-of-16 shots against BCCC to go with six rebounds and three steals.

"And that was just one half," said Nichols, who did not play Clyde until the second half.

By the time Clyde made it into the game, Chesapeake had a 31-17 lead.  The Skipjacks traded baskets with BCCC (6-11, 4-6) in the second half, outscoring the Panthers just 40-39.

Katara Pressley (10 points, five rebounds) was the only Chesapeake starter to hit double digits while Sydney Small (nine points, four steals) and Najah Chambers (eight points, team-high eight rebounds) just missed double figures.

Brittany Taylor had a team-high seven assists to go along with seven rebounds and six points for Chesapeake.

The Skipjacks, who have had trouble from the line much of this season, shot just under 62 percent from the foul line (13-for-21) after making less than half of their free throws against Harford.