November 14, 2009

By Donnie Woods

The Lady Reivers were extremely balanced offensively and defeated Hastings JV 79-41 Saturday night in the sweep of the Holiday Inn Classic.

Freshman Marina Fox led the way with 15 points on 6-of12 shooting, 3 assist, and 2 steals. Sophomore Chloe Parker registered 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 steals off the bench. Also, sophomore point guard Amber Peterson dished out 9 assists with only 2 turnovers and recorded her first career block shot.

For the game, Iowa Western hit 47 percent of its shots from the field, including a 46-percent clip from beyond the 3-point line. 
The Reivers returns to the court Tuesday night against Des Moines Area Community College at 7 p.m. in Kanesville Arena.

“We did a great job running our secondary break and running to our spots tonight. The girls did a better job of executing our offense the second half," said Coach Jim Turgeon.

“Our confidence is in a much better place then where it was 2 weeks ago. That is why it is very important that we get off to a really good start, because we have so many freshmen that are trying to figure out how to play the college game.”

Turgeon said his team has some work to do heading into play this week.

“I think we kind of came out flat, especially the first five minutes of the game. We need to really be consistent on every possession; we can’t take breaks here or there. That’s what it’s going to take to win-being consistent on offense and defense. Also, we are still turning the ball over too much. We need to value the basketball better.”

“I was extremely happy with our team defense. Our defense was good the first half and got even better the second half. We are being more aggressive without having silly fouls.”

Sophomore Point Guard Amber Peterson commented on the impact of teammate Chloe Parker.  “I think Chloe came in and gave us a big lift today. She was a huge spark off the bench. There was a certain point of the game that her steals came up huge, hitting 2 layups back to back off steals. That was definitely our spark plug tonight. We really need more of that from Chloe when she comes off the bench.”

Freshman Center Marina Fox commented on the play of teammate Amber Peterson. “Amber is a really good point guard. She sees the floor very well and if you run the floor, she will reward you with the basketball. The fact she only had 2 turnovers tonight from the point guard position is amazing. She did a really well job tonight.”