Women's Basketball crushes Kankakee for 10th straight win

Top players Jayla Rankin and Jada Branch alternated hot halves, combining to lead the Triton College women's basketball team to an 86-42 thrashing of onetime nemesis Kankakee Community College Thursday (Jan. 22) at the Jorndt Athletic Complex gymnasium.
 
Augmented by productive teammates, the Rankin-Branch duo powered the Trojans (13-8) to their 10th straight victory. The triumph also was their fifth straight victory over the Cavaliers, a team they never previously defeated before the present head-to-head winning streak.
 
"They played with a lot of energy," said head coach Drew Winston. "They're playing with a lot of confidence and playing unselfishly."
 
Rankin, the NJCAA's third-leading national scorer in Division I at 21.1 points per game, pushed the Trojans out to a big early lead with 11 first-half points, including a trio of three-pointers. The last trey from WNBA range at the buzzer gave Triton a 38-18 halftime lead. Rankin finished with 19 points.
 
She was matched in the first half in the long-distance stats by Jocelyn Tibbetts with three treys, including back-to-back shots that preceded Rankin's closing three-pointer.
 
"I couldn't wait to get the ball to shoot," said Tibbetts, who added two more three-pointers in the second half to finish with 15 points.
 
Branch was on her way to matching her 10.1 points per game average with five first-half points. But she exploded after intermission, hitting 6-of-12 shots to finish with a game-high 23 points as the Trojans pushed the lead as big as 49 points with three minutes to go.
 
"She's learning her role," Winston said of Branch, who had to play point guard by necessity due to injuries last season. "She's starting to fill a role we expected her to be in…she's a 'two.'"
 
Triton limited Kankakee (12-8) to 24 percent shooting, a defensive feat that should have earned the players prime steak dinners post-game.
 
The Trojans also had a massive 57-37 edge in rebounding. Alivia Brown was individual leader with 15 rebounds. Charity Anderson had 10 rebounds.
 
"A lot of hard work," Brown said of the mid-season surge. We never played together before."
 
Added Tibbetts: "Now we're a family."
 
Mariah Phelps had 12 points. Rankin led with seven assists while Branch had six.
 
After a challenging early schedule, the Trojans are dominating Region 4 with a 13-1 record. They are the top-rated Region 4 team in the Massey Index.
 
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(Story by tritonathletics.com contributor George Castle)