January 29, 2017

Delta Back To Winning Ways

Defeat St. Clair, remain one game back in MCCAA standings

Box Score

University Center – The Delta women's basketball team got back on the winning track Saturday, defeating the visiting St. Clair County Skippers by the score of 90-83.  After losing their first conference game to Schoolcraft last Saturday, a week off was just what the Pioneers needed.   The win, coupled with a Schoolcraft loss, brings Delta into a second place tie in the MCCAA East.

"After last week's loss to Schoolcraft we focused a lot on making the extra pass, executing plays, and hitting different options out of those plays," said head coach Kelly Miller, now in her 21st season at Delta.

The Pioneers played lock-down defense to get the game started, taking an early eight-point lead which forced St. Clair to burn it's first time out to regroup.  After an offensive adjustment, the Skippers nailed some three point shots and narrowed the gap by the end of the first quarter, 24-20.

The three-point barrage continued for St Clair in the second quarter as the visitors continued to scrap and score, both behind the arc and at the line, taking a 39-37 lead in to the half. 


"They are a very hard working team and play for 40 minutes, putting it all out there," said Miller. "They pushed us and it wasn't until we pushed back that things began to change."

The second half played out much like the first as St Clair continued to maintain a slim margin over Delta.  But a late bucket in the closing seconds of the third quarter finally saw the Pioneers tie the game, only to give the lead back up seconds later on a buzzer beating three pointer at the opposite end.  The score was 66-63 in favor of St. Clair as the fourth quarter began. 
 

"With foul trouble we had some rotations that didn't work in our favor but once the final quarter started we knew if we could get going with the right lineup we would win the game," said Miller.  And Delta found that right lineup just in the nick of time.

The total team effort down the stretch of the fourth quarter propelled Delta's defense to put added pressure on the Skippers scoring threats, limiting St. Clair in their offense.   As for Delta's offense, freshman Harmany Williams scored 21 points off the bench and added six rebounds and six assists to lead the comeback.  Meanwhile, Jenna Szostak continued her scoring streak adding 26 points and eight boards of her own.  Five players for the Pioneers hit double figures in scoring in all as Lauren Rogers (17 points), Brianna Herner (14 points) and Ashley Lee (10 points) all contributed to the win. 

"When we share the ball and make the extra effort to turn a good shot into a great shot we're very tough to beat," added Miller.  "Now we need to use this and keep building momentum."

Delta next travels to Macomb on Wednesday to take on the league leading Monarchs.  Macomb is currently 6-0 in conference play and 10-8 on the year while Delta is 5-1 and 10-7 respectively.  Macomb's latest victory was a three-point thriller over Schoolcraft which handed the Ocelot's their first league loss.  Game time for Wednesday's affair is scheduled for 5:30pm.