A resounding 72-45 victory over College of Lake County Nov. 23 at the Collins Center, was a consensus rating as the Triton College women's basketball team's best overall game to date in the young season.
After two frustrating road losses, leading scorer
Bethany Baldwin and head coach
Marques Hatch both viewed the win as the model game upon which to build on.
The Trojans jumped out to a 25-9 lead, had a 40-19 halftime edge and cruised the rest of the way.
"Our energy was what we needed to work on the most," said Baldwin, whose spectacular layup in traffic was the highlight of her 14-point first-half output. She finished with 16 on 7-for-9 shooting, adding five assists.
"We finally came out with a lot of energy this time," Baldwin said. "It gets the whole team hyped up. We were playing together than we had before. I think it was our best game. We were slowing down and running the plays. I think we should have won by a lot more."
Hatch had been working on consistency in performance in practice and during in-game adjustments, as the Trojans improved to 3-4. He was a satisfied coach post-game.
"In the six games up to this point, we were very inconsistent," said Hatch. "We went back to the basics, the fundamentals of playing our basketball, and that starts on the defensive end of the floor."
Hatch witnessed Basketball 101 as Triton's stifling defense triggered numerous fast breaks as the points piled up in the first half.
"We got back to playing help-side, in closing out and doing the basic things it takes to be successful on defense," he said. "It came out in the game and it showed what we've been working on.
"It was a good showing. I think we'll be able to look back on this game. Hopefully, this is the game that gets our season going in the right direction. We have a lot of positives in this game. Hopefully, this will catapult us on the nice run that I know we're capable of having."
When Baldwin, a lifelong sharpshooter, gets going, Hatch will ride along. Even with a big lead in the second half, the 5-foot-8 Michigan product stayed in. She logged a game-high 32 minutes.
"I really don't have a feeling," Baldwin said of her early hot hand. "It just comes to me. That's the way it's been my whole life. When I realize I can take it, that's what I can do. I can finish and gets us ahead as much as we need to."
The Trojans enjoyed balanced scoring. Guard
Davion Watt (Independence, Miss.) had 14, while
Jaelah Crosby (Evansville, Ind.) tallied 11. Center
Dajha Cooper (Elgin) was a force inside with nine points and 10 rebounds.
Jasmine Igartua (Leyden) added nine.
When the Trojans weren't driving to the basket, they had their long-range game in hand, too. They were 5-for-11 shooting three-pointers.
"This game will give us a boost and give us motivation," said Watt.
Triton will look to keep the momentum going when they visit unbeaten Malcolm X College Nov. 26 at 5 p.m.
Follow Triton Athletics on TwitterÂ
@TritonTrojans1Â or on InstagramÂ
@Triton_College_Athletics
Â
