The Triton College women's basketball team like the rest of the basketball world was stunned by the death of Kobe Bryant, his 13-year old daughter Gianna and seven others in a helicopter crash Sunday in Calabasas, California. Bryant's support of the game of women's basketball in particular and his impact on the players from both Triton and Harper College made Monday's game in River Grove played under a more somber tone.
The Lady Trojans honored the memory of Bryant and those who died in numerous ways including wearing their alternate bright gold jerseys that are similar to the color of the iconic uniform donned by the Los Angeles
Lakers where Bryant played for 20 seasons to become one of the most admired sports figures of this generation. Prior to the game, there was a moment of silence before the national anthem and when the game tipped, first Triton followed by Harper took shot-clock violations to the applause of all in the gym. The final unique tribute was done by Lady Trojan head coach
Marques Hatch who coached the game wearing the Kobe Bryant No. 8 jersey he got when he was a high school student.
"No words can be expressed to describe the feeling of your favorite player losing his life unexpectedly," said Hatch. "It hurts even more to know that his 13-year old daughter was with him and they were on their way to play basketball. Thank you to my Lady Trojan Family and Harper College Women's Basketball team for paying their respects to Kobe and Gigi. It was only right that I wore my Kobe jersey on the sideline."
Triton had little trouble winning the game over the Hawks 77-16 to improve to 16-6 overall and 6-1 in the North Central Community College Conference (N4C).
When the team wears their alternate gold uniforms this season, leading scorer
Bethany Baldwin would wear the No. 24, the second jersey number Bryant made famous. Baldwin would get to wear it as usual on Monday with a little extra emotion and scored a team-high 18 points on seven-of nine shooting from the field in just 12 minutes played.
Hatch used the game the game to play many of the reserves as the Lady Trojans played their typical lineup for about 10 minutes.
Sophomore
Pamela Colmenares was in double-figures with 12 points and five assists.
Dionne Beals had 11 points and eight rebounds.
Deborah Odusani-Hassan finished with eight points.
Dajha Cooper,
Senia Pitts,
Davion Watt and
Tracy Williams all scored six points
apiece for Triton.
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