Lady Vikings get past KVCC
Glen Oaks secures MCCAA home win.
A Glen Oaks Community College women's basketball team that needed something to go its way after a tough month was able to beat visiting Kalamazoo Valley 51-48 Saturday in MCCAA Western Conference play.
An injury-depleted roster mustered up plenty of energy at home, jumping out to a 19-8 lead by the end of the first quarter. Freshman Chelsi Zyla buried three 3-pointers in the opening frame and finished with a game-high 19 points.
The Cougars (5-13, 1-5) closed the gap midway through the second quarter, cutting the deficit to two points, but freshman Kylie Quist had a five-point burst and Zyla was fouled on a shot from behind the arc and hit all three free throws to close out the half with a 34-34 lead in favor of the Vikings (9-11,1-5).
It was a relatively quiet third quarter offensively for both squads, but layups by Zyla, Kaytlin Smith and Abby Youmans, along with a free throw by Lilyana Coleman, kept the Vikings out front, 41-32.
A Quist offensive rebound and bucket and a Smith jumper put Glen Oaks ahead by double digits again early in the fourth frame, but the Cougars made a push with a 12-0 run and made it a 45-44 contest in favor of Glen Oaks with under five minutes to play.
Smith drove to the hoop to stop the bleeding, Zyla added a free throw and would make another trip to the stripe with 25 seconds after a technical foul on an intentional foul by KVCC. Zyla made one to give Glen Oaks a 49-47 lead and Kamryn Washington came up clutch with two more foul shots with 12.3 seconds remaining to ice it for GOCC.
Glen Oaks shot 42.9 percent from the field for the game and limited KVCC to 32.7 percent shooting, allowing just four Cougar 3-pointers on 25 attempts.
Quist finished with nine points, three rebounds and four assists, and Smith had eight points and 10 rebounds for the Vikings. Amanda Barber added four points and a pair of steals, Coleman, Abby Youmans and Sarah DeKoning both scored three points and Washington registered two. Coleman also snagged five rebounds in the contest.
