DES MOINES, Iowa Going into the Grand View game, the Bluejays had two great wins underneath them and were going into the game with a lot of momentum. Unfortunately, the ladies fell short and lost, 54-82.
The starting five for the Bluejays included senior guard Ja'Neysha Hendricks, junior guards Tegan Werth and Kassidy Beam, senior guard/forward Madie McCoy, and senior forward Alyvia Owens.
Head Coach Shawn Reed said, "It was a rough game from the tip-off. Grand View essentially plays 5 guards and they are very athletic and can drive and shoot the ball. We had trouble containing their drives while trying to guard the 3-point line and they put up 23 points in the first quarter. Because we had to try and guard at a very high level our shooting percentages also suffered. We didn't shoot near as well from behind the three-point and we missed a lot of shots in the paint."
Quarter one started and Grand View got the ball and scored first but shortly after Alyvia Owens went up for a layup. Some minutes went by while the Vikings took advantage of small errors made by the Bluejays. Kassidy Beam hit a three to tie it back up and get ahead. The Vikings made a nine-point run to lead at the end of the first quarter, 16-23.
In the second quarter, it took the ladies 2 minutes to score. Grand View never let up and continued scoring. After a few layups and good free throw shooting by Ja'Neysha Hendricks, the Bluejays kept attacking to cut the deficit, to 29-43.
Following halftime, the Bluejays couldn't find their groove and not very many of their shots were falling. They played a zone defense to try to shut the Vikings down but Grand View took advantage of every opportunity to score. A layup by Lillie Veer and free throws by Miyah McGee added to the score, 40-68.
The fourth quarter was a little slow for the Bluejays. They just never found a rhythm to go on a run. Alicia Baker hit two free throws and a three late in the game but ended up losing, 54-82.
Coach Reed said this after the game, "I thought we rebounded better than we had the past couple of games but we had too many turnovers and simply were not efficient offensively. You have to credit Grand View for our struggles but I also felt like playing three road games, in three different states against quality opponents in the span of eight days really caught up with us. Grand View exploited a lot of weaknesses and we have a lot to work on this week prior to our classic. They are without a doubt one of the best teams we have played during the past two seasons and I look for them to qualify for the NAIA national tournament again this year."
"We have two excellent teams coming to our home classic. UHSP (University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy) has the leading individual scorer in the country for the past several years in the NAIA and she is an amazing player. UHSP was on the bubble of making the NAIA tournament a year ago and they will be a very tough opponent. We also host #25 USAO (University of Science and Art) on Saturday. USAO is a very athletic and experienced team that participated in the NAIA national tournament a year ago. They are strong at both ends of the court and will be very similar in athletic ability to Grand View. We hope people will come out and support our team as we host some excellent teams this weekend at Tabor Gym", mentioned Coach Reed.
This puts their record at 2-1 overall. The Bluejays' next game will be at home in Hillsboro, Kansas on Friday, Nov. 10 against the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy at 5:30 p.m.
