Nov. 7, 2012 — A little motivation can go a long way.
For the Kentucky Christian University women’s basketball team, a home-opening loss to Midway College Thursday evening served as the ultimate motivator as the Lady Knights traveled to Circleville, Ohio, Friday to participate in the Think Pink Classic hosted by Ohio Christian University.
In the first matchup of the weekend, KCU took out its frustrations on an over-matched Ohio University-Lancaster, delivering a dominant performance with an 86-46 victory.
“We had a tough loss on opening night, and I think part of that was because we hadn't had a scrimmage,” said KCU coach Ron Arnett. “That first game kind of served that purpose for us and we were able to pick it up over the weekend and play some solid basketball.”
The route of the Lady Cougars started early in the game as the Lady Knights came out ready to play. With a fast paced offense and balanced scoring effort, KCU was able to enter the half with a 43-25 lead.
Junior guard Tanya Bowens led all scorers with 22 points on the night. Junior transfer forward Sharonda Jones was the second highest scorer for the Lady Knights with 15.
Bowens 22-point effort came after a 30-point outing in the home opener. KCU Head Coach Ron Arnett said his junior guard's play has been great to start the season.
“Tanya was the fastest kid on the floor this weekend and she really took advantage of her athleticism,” Arnett said. “She was 9 for 12 against OH-L, and she's shot the bell well in our first three games of the season. She's a very dynamic player.”
Friday's blowout success turned into a Saturday massacre, with KCU coming out on top in its game against Ohio University - Chillicothe, 93-33
Off to a 2-1 start, junior KCU center Monica Stevens believes her team is cable of once again competing for another KCAA title.
“In ways we can see this team being stronger than even last year's team,” Stevens said. “We feel like we have a lot of weapons offensively, and we really try to keep the pace up because of that. We have faith in our abilities as a team.”
Kentucky Christian will face off against another NAIA opponent in Alice Lloyd College, who the Lady Knights took two games from last season.
Journal-Times sports will have more KCU women's hoops coverage throughout the season.
Grant Stevens can be reached at gstevens@journal-times.com or by telephone at 1-800-247-6142.
