ARNOLD, MD - Head Coach Renard Smith and the Lady Panthers (16-0; 11-0 MD JUCO Conferene) maintained their undefeated record by winning their 16th game in a row against conference foe Anne Arundel Community College (10-9; 6-4 MD JUCO Conference) 63-45.
Both teams started the game exchanging field goals and a number of open missed shots which eventually found the Lady Panthers down by four points. After eight minutes of play the score was 12-8 and this was an unfamiliar territory for BCCC's women's basketball team. After the Lady Pioneers called their first time out, the Lady Panthers came out firing as they scored the first three baskets behind the outstanding play from sophomore All-American guard Charda Lomax (Frederick Douglass/Baltimore, MD). Lomax ended the game with 17 points, nine assists, four rebounds and five steals.
Four minutes before the half, freshman forward Chanet Wallace (Edmondson/Baltimore, MD) scored on back to back possessions that brought the Lady Panthers to a 10 point lead. By halftime BCCC regained their composer and was leading the game 29-19.
In the second half, the Lady Panthers increased its lead to as many as 15 points leading the Lady Pioneers by the score of 45-30 with 11:44 left in the game. Anne Arundel fought back and stepped up their defensive pressure but from that point BCCC went on an 11-3 run to maintain their lead.
The nail in the coffin was when freshman guard Taniara McClurkin (St. Frances Academy/Baltimore, MD) hit a three point shot with two minutes left in the game which solidified the Lady Panthers their sixteenth win of the season.
McClurkin ended the game with 13 points, seven assists and four steals while Wallace finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and three steals. Sophomore forward Ashley Jones (Old Mill/Baltimore, MD) had another strong outing ending the game with 14 points, 15 rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
Next Game
The Lady Panthers will play host to visiting ASA (7-4) at the Athletic Center on Saturday, January 30th. Tip-off will be 3 p.m.
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“It is nice to get a win against any team in our conference but this game felt good tonight,” said head coach Smith. “Anne Arundel has always played tough against my teams and beat us twice last year during the regular season but we got the best of them in the MD JUCO Tournament.” “We were able to find a way to dominate this game even though we didn't shoot the ball very well and that was something we were not successful in doing so last year. However, it is good to see the immediate growth and maturity of this team during the second half of the season.”
