By By Nick Pipitone
The Pride women’s basketball team’s tough non-conference schedule this season has been insinuated as a statement by head coach Felisha Legette-Jack, to some, as a way to earn respect for her budding team. That respect, however, apparently is still being questioned.
In the Pepperdine Thanksgiving Classic this past weekend in Malibu, Calif., the Pride fell to the University of Kentucky in the championship round, 67-54, after beating host Pepperdine, 75-59, in the first round.
The Waves had the opportunity to select its first opponent and chose the Pride, a gesture some players took as a sign of disrespect. In response, the Blue & Gold led off the second half scoring 10 of the first 14 points to open up a double-digit lead. This helped get the win and its first championship round appearance in an in-season tournament since 2002.
“Any host team that schedules us first is an insult because they think we’re the weakest team,” junior guard Cigi McCollin said. “They scheduled the two best teams [head-to-head] so they could go to the championship [and play them]. They thought we were going to roll over and die, but that wasn’t the case.”
The Pride’s performance over this past weekend evened its mark at 2-2 as it heads into a string of seven games, in which it will play six on the road. The team’s only home game in that stretch will be a televised match up (Fox Sports N.Y.) with St. John’s on Dec. 11.
The Blue & Gold handled the Waves in the second half of its first round game, leading by 23 at the seven minute mark. McCollin scored a game-high 16 points ,while junior forward Lizanne Murphy added seven points and pulled down 13 boards.
Carrying its play over into the next day in the championship, the Pride held a two-point lead going into halftime against Kentucky, but self-destructed in the second half. The team was held scoreless for the first six-and-a-half minutes of the second half and outscored, 35-20.
“We came out a little bit tentative in the second half,” Jack said. “In the beginning of the second half we played against the University of Kentucky and that took us aback a little bit. But once we composed ourselves and realized that we could play with them, time kind of ran out.”
After consecutive scores from Murphy at the three-minute mark, the Pride pulled within three. However, the Wildcats shut the Blue & Gold out for the remainder of the game to hold onto the 13-point win.
Both Murphy and McCollin were selected to the all-tournament team, with Murphy posting 15 points and four rebounds and McCollin scoring a game-high 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Junior center Vanessa Gidden also had a game-high five blocks and a team-high five rebounds.
McCollin, though, was the Pride’s main standout, continuing her fine early season play. Thus far, the junior leads the team with 16.8 PPG.
“She’s a consistent player,” Jack said. “I think she’s one of the players we snuck away with. A lot of schools missed the ball on [McCollin] and we were the lucky ones. She’s been getting better every game and staying consistent with the scoring production.”
The Wildcats out-rebounded the marking the first time the team has been beaten on the boards since its regular season finale vs. ODU last year.
Junior Cigi McCollin had a game-high 16 points against Kentucky in the Pride’s 67-54 loss. (Photo Courtesy Athletic Dept.)
