Women’s College Basketball: Rebounding and defense key to Raider win

BRAINERD — The season has been a short but impactful one for the Central Lakes College Raiders’ Samantha Quigley.

The Houck, Arizona, native joined the Raiders midway through the season and instantly fit in with her teammates.

“It was by the second game back,” Quigley said. “They are very good teammates and I love to play with them. I fit in well.”

She continued to fit in well in the rematch against Gogebic Community College Friday, Feb. 3. Quigley played all 40 minutes, scoring 20 points and grabbing nine rebounds to lead the Raiders to their ninth straight win with a 58-48 win over The Sampson’s.

The Raiders swept the series having won in Ironwood, Michigan, 71-44 Tuesday, Jan 24.

CLC’s Alyssa Torgerson was in the lineup for the first game against Gogebic, but missed her second straight game Friday due to illness. It wasn’t just Torgerson who was feeling under the weather.

“It was an ugly win but we are still excited that we pulled it off,” Quigley said. “We weren’t all feeling 100% tonight. I am proud of my team.”

Kalli Papenfuss tallied nine assists, 11 steals. She also added 12 rebounds, which was a focus for the Raiders. Jaime Johnson added 15 points for the Raiders.

“With Alyssa averaging about 11 rebounds a game, we put the focus on that and on defense,” Raiders head coach Krystal Brodeen said. “I told them a couple of weeks ago that someone has to pick those (rebounds) up and Sam did it last week at Itasca crashing the boards all the time and today she did the same and I think that she gets that we want energy out of her right away. She is also a very selfless player and we had to change that a little bit.”

CLC managed just 10 first-quarter points, but the Raiders’ full-court defense created offense in the second quarter. The Raiders outscored the Sampsons 20-7 in the second quarter to lead 30-17 at the half.

“We outscored them 20-7 in the second quarter because of the press and it is one that works really well for us,” Brodeen said. “We have a couple of options out of that and it has led to an effortless offense. I always say that disciplined defense leads to effortless offense and that is the phrase I kind of live by and the girls have really bought into that and they really like doing that press now.”

The Raiders forced 14 turnovers in the first half and rallied from 25% shooting in the first quarter to shoot 35% for the half.

CLC opened the third quarter with a 17-4 run and took its biggest lead at 47-21 on a Johnalisse Morales 3-pointer. Gogebic responded with a 12-point run to narrow the score to 47-33 at the end of the third quarter.

The Sampsons used a nine-point run to climb to 52-44. A basket from Ellie Anderson gave the Raiders a 10-point lead and resulted in a celebration from the Raiders’ bench.

“We try to get everyone on the scoreboard and that is the best part for the team,” Brodeen said of Anderson’s basket. “They get really excited and I try to build confidence by giving minutes and not just have them sit and watch.”

CLC won the rebound margin 39-27 and forced 26 Gogebic turnovers.

“With Alyssa being out, the big focus was on rebounding and boxing out,” Quigley said. “I thought we did a good job on rebounding and keeping them one and done (offensively).”