This week’s intramural basketball games kicked off with a game between Pride Rock and BCM Ladies 2.  Both teams matched up evenly as far as height was concerned, but a glaring lack of substitutes for BCM Ladies 2 would catch up to them in the end.

 

The opening 10 minutes saw the two teams battling close with neither team gaining a clear advantage.  Pride Rock’s up-tempo pace was matched by an early dominance on the boards by BCM 2.  Ethel Ayika constantly pushed BCM 2 to stay close with a handful of steals and a couple of three point buckets early in the first half. 

 

After a flurry of traded three-pointers in the last five minutes, Pride Rock pulled away to a nine-point lead with two minutes remaining.  The lack of substitutes was pulling on the ladies of BCM 2.  The first half ended with Pride Rock leading 30-20.

 

The second half opened with a renewed vigor from BCM 2 as Elena Chowning drained a pair of early three-pointers to seemingly pull her team out of the lull that ended the first half.  BCM 2 was ignited and playing with reckless abandon as the girls dove for every loose ball and found a way to slow down the offense of Pride Rock for the opening quarter of the second half. 

 

Players tied up for a jump-ball nearly every time down the court for a stretch of about five minutes.

 

Elena Chowning led the scoring for Pride Rock. Two minutes remained in the game as the ladies of Pride Rock began to pull away. The high paced attack of Chowning and Pride Rock had worn down the sub-less BCM 2, with the final score ending 49-37. 

 

Chowning, who finished with 13 points, was proud of her team’s effort, but was impressed with the heart of her opponents.

 

“They gave it everything they had tonight,” she said. “They obviously didn’t have any subs, but our girls played hard too.  We played great.”