Trojans unable to generate enough heat vs. Lincoln Land

 
The Midwest's early winter apparently chilled the Collins Center so much Saturday the Triton College women's basketball teams' offense hardly experienced any defrosting in a 56-47 loss Nov. 19 to Lincoln Land Community College.

After a cold early start, the Trojans rallied behind captain Monraia Wilson to take a 24-23 halftime lead. But what modest momentum that had built up totally froze up midway through the third quarter as Lincoln Land took a five-point lead.

In the fourth, Triton could only muster one point, via a Destine Lovett free throw, in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter as the Loggers built a 15-point lead to coast to the victory. 

Even Wilson, who had a fine first half with 10 points, cooled with just four points in the second half. No other Trojan had more than seven points as the hosts shot just 34 % from the field. They also committed 19 turnovers.

The iciest statistic of all was three-point shooting. The Trojans shot just 2-for-23, missing all 14 second-half attempts.

"There was a lid on the basket," said interim head coach Drew Winston. "The offense never got going. We haven't been shooting really well this year. We haven't really had a good shooting night."

Meanwhile, the usually sturdy Triton defense buckled somewhat in the second half. The Loggers had just seven free-throw attempts in the first half. But they much more frequently visited the line immediately after halftime, sinking 11 of 14 free shots in the third quarter alone. From the field, Lincoln Land shot 44 % for the game.

Chief beneficiary of Trojans fouls was Loggers star Marley Smith, who made eight of nine free-throw attempts to help build her game-high 18 point total. Allison Scarlette scored 13 for Lincoln Land.

The tone of the game was set early on when the Trojans went scoreless for almost the first four minutes, trailing 15-8 at the end of the first quarter. Wilson's layup and three-pointer forged a 19-19 tie. She played all but one minute, 47 seconds in the first half. She was not able to regain her touch in the second half as the Loggers pulled away.

The one positive was offensive sparkplug Linarys Burnett-Romero played more than 19 minutes, amassing decent court time after being out three weeks with a bad ankle sprain. Winston said the inconsistent offense was partly due to Burnett-Romero's absence.

"Today was her first time playing almost regular minutes," Winston said.  I think she'll be ready. She looked better today than she's been. Being out that long affects you mentally as well as physically. Injuries are hard, where you're worried about getting hurt again. And we added two, three more plays while she was out, so she is getting used to that."

The Trojans have a chance to take their Thanksgiving break on a high note playing Prairie State College on the road in Chicago Heights on Nov. 22. The next home game is against Elmhurst University's junior varsity on Nov. 29.

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(Story by tritonathletics.com contributor George Castle)