Lady Badgers lose early leads, fall to both foes
Matt Harris
Staff writer
2-9-2017
EPHRAIM—“So close, and yet so far” would be an accurate way of describing the week that the Snow College women’s basketball team just had.
After last week’s humiliating loss to Colorado Northwestern, the Lady Badgers held solid leads against both Southern Idaho and No. 6-ranked Salt Lake, in Ephraim, only to see both slip away as Snow lost to each team, 75-68 and 68-61, respectively, and close out the week with a three-game losing streak. The Lady Badgers are now 4-6 in the Scenic West Athletic Conference and 9-12 on the season.
“I really wish I had all the answers,” head coach Mike Russell said. “It’s something we’ve been battling all season, inconsistency that is. I believe playing a roster comprised of nearly all freshmen is part of our issue. With that lack of experience, our kids are being put in situations they’ve never been in, whereas every team we’re facing in conference all have a core group of sophomores who have been there before.”
Snow battled hard against Southern Idaho, coming out of an early deficit to go on a 14-1 scoring to claim the halftime lead, 32-28. Later, after Southern Idaho had reestablished their lead in the game, 47-40, Snow attempted to do the same thing again but was gutted by the fouling out of leading scorer Lindsay Cook. Despite a string of threes by Snow freshman Kayla Hugie, the Golden Eagles took the game.
Hugie led the scoring by the end of the game with 18 points, while freshman Madison Mooring added 11.
Despite the struggling season, Snow has recently shown an aptitude for matching up well with the nationally-ranked Salt Lake squad, and this game was no different. Snow once again built up a sizable early lead by as much as 12 points with 3:05 remaining in the first half. That was all that the Lady Badgers could do before Salt Lake surged on back, taking the lead by 11 in the final minute of the game.
Despite the loss, the Lady Badgers got a star-quality game out of their leading scorers, freshmen Cook and Hugie, who combined for 40 of Snow’s 61 points in the game.
“We’re just trying to keep our kids focused and competing hard,” Russell said. “There will come a day when we will be able to close out games.”
Freshman Siki Suguturaga also added 10 points and had three blocks.
Following their game at Utah State-Eastern last Tuesday (score next week), the Lady Badgers hope to avenge their loss to Colorado Northwestern at home this Saturday at 3 p.m.
