Cedarville Crushes Ohio Christian

Coming off of a week-long break, the Lady Jackets showed no signs of rust as they stormed out of the gate and never looked back, rolling over Ohio Christian University 78-43.

Cedarville scored the game’s first 17 points. The Trailblazers were scoreless until a pair of free throws 6:32 into the game got them on the scoreboard. The two teams played evenly after that, and the Jackets went into the half up 39-22.

Senior Raegan Ryan attributed the fast start to being well rested, and she said the team knew they needed a win tonight.

“We knew it was a game that we needed to be the better team,” she said, “so that was our motivating factor, just to stay on top and keep pushing through that.”

Ryan led the team with 16 points, seven assists and three steals, and junior Kaysie Brittenham added 14 points. Freshman Breanne Watterworth had a game-high eight rebounds. The team shot 45 percent from the field compared to Ohio Christian’s 24 percent.

The Jackets had a big advantage on the glass. They out-rebounded the Trailblazers 58-32, and they scored 23 second-chance points.

The second half was the same, and the Jackets never let their foot off the pedal en route to a 78-43 rout.

Even though the Jackets won easily, head coach Kirk Martin said he found some areas where the team needed to improve.

“I thought that we maybe forced shots a little too quickly,” Martin said. “We didn’t defend with passion. They got into the lane way too much.”

Martin said the team’s freshman have impressed him so far this season.

“They add a wonderful ingredient to our team of freshness,” he said. “They want to be good, they want to do what’s asked of them, and it’s certainly enjoyable to have them.”

The win moves the Yellow Jackets to 6-1 on the season. They play their next game at Ursuline at 7 p.m. Thursday night before coming home to face the University of Indianapolis this Saturday at 2 p.m.

Jon Gallardo is a junior journalism major and sports editor for Cedars. He enjoys writing, playing basketball and quoting Napoleon Dynamite. He has not given up yet on his dream of becoming an NBA player.