The CCRI Lady Knights basketball team traveled to the District of Columbia to compete in the National Title IX Holiday Conference and Classic on Friday. In their first game of the Title IX Classic, CCRI faced the Cougars of Frederick Community College from Frederick, Maryland. The Lady Knights won, 54-52, to improve their record to 10-4 on the season.
This was the second meeting between the Lady Knights and Cougars. CCRI had beaten Frederick in the Cougars’ Tip-off Classic, 72-54, in the beginning of November, but this would be a much closer contest. The Cougars jumped out to a 13-5 lead early in the first quarter, until CCRI clawed back to cut the lead to one point, 15-14, on a basket from co-captain Tiondra Hands (Boynton, Beach, Florida). But, the Cougars’ Dajah Gee sank a 3-pointer just before the end of the quarter to give Frederick an 18-14 lead after a quarter.
Gee was not done there as she as she sank another 3-pointer to start the second quarter to give Frederick a 21-14 lead. The Cougars would extend their lead to 15 points on a 3-pointer by Jordan Powe, making the score 31-16 Frederick.
The Lady Knights answered the 3-point call by sinking three long-range bombs themselves from Hands, D’Asia Allen (Providence, Rhode Island) and Jada Littlejohn (Providence, Rhode Island), which helped cut the lead to five points, 31-26.
Dajah Gee made a basket, and Allen answered with a 3-pointer to send the Lady Knights into the halftime break trailing, 33-29.
Frederick kept on rolling in the third quarter, outscoring CCRI, 14-10, led by Jone Ayers, who scored eight of the Cougars’ 14 third-quarter points. Hands scored four of CCRI’s 10 in the third quarter to keep the Lady Knights in striking distance.
CCRI played stifling defense in the fourth quarter to limit the Cougars to just five fourth-quarter points while matching its highest quarter scoring total with 15 fourth-quarter points. The Lady Knights’ fourth-quarter comeback was authored by their co-captains Hands, who scored five points, and Kelsey Hernandez (New Britain, Connecticut), who also added five fourth-quarter points.
CCRI led by as many as five points in the fourth quarter with the score 53-48, and were able to hold on to win by the final count of 54-52.
Leading the way for the Lady Knights was Hands, who scored a game-high 22 points, including three 3-pointers with six rebounds and four assists. It was an extra special day for the Lady Knights’ co-captain, as Hands scored her season-high 22 points in front of her mother, who had surprised her with a holiday visit from Boynton Beach, Florida, to see her for the first time this season.
Also helping CCRI was Littlejohn with eight points and a team-high 12 rebounds, and Allen had seven points, including two 3-pointers. Two other key contributors for the Lady Knights were Hernandez, who scored all five of her points during the CCRI fourth-quarter comeback, while adding four assists, and Waleska Kelly (Pawtucket, Rhode Island), who only scored two points, but ripped down a career-high 11 rebounds with three assists and tied a career-high with three blocked shots.
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