(Milwaukee, WI) - After a pair of opponent cancellations, the Waubonsee Community College's women's basketball team finally took the court again after an 11 day layoff. The time off did not appear to faze the Chiefs as they picked up a road win against Milwaukee Area (WI) Technical College (MATC) on Monday evening at Alverno College's Reiman Gymnasium on the southwest side of the city. Waubonsee (3-1) dominated the glass, out rebounding the Stormers 28-10 on the offensive end of the floor on the way to a 74-62 victory. Coach Jim Williams' Chiefs had three players book double-doubles in points and rebounds as Waubonsee owned a 62-45 edge in rebounding overall.
Delani Kosner got the scoring started with an inside basket on the Chiefs' first possession. A short jump shot in the lane by Evelyn Martin a few minutes later put Waubonsee in front 10-4. The Stormers (6-3) eventually tied the game at 16-all with a minute and a half left in the first quarter. In the final minute of the period Janiece Thomas scored on a driving lay-up as the quarter ended tied at 18. Two and a half minutes into the second quarter the Chiefs slowly began to pull away. An outstanding pass by Kosner to Brooke Heiman put Waubonsee ahead 25-23. Not long after Thomas assisted Martin on a fast break basket, and Jaylynn Vana snagged an offensive rebound and scored inside to cap an 8-0 run to make it 33-25. Meanwhile, the Stormers began to get in foul trouble as Waubonsee wore them down by controlling the boards. The Chiefs's second chance points helped them open up a 46-33 halftime lead, highlighted by three pointers from Elly Kuhn and Melia Perry.
Waubonsee led by 16 early in the third quarter and never allowed MATC to get closer than 11 poiunts throughout the period. A three-pointer from the top of the key by Thomas and a fast break lay-in by Martin helped the Chiefs maintain a comfortable lead as they headed to the fourth quarter in front 62-46. However, the Stormers had one last surge in them. They opened the final stanza on a 9-0 run to pull within seven points as the Chiefs' shooting suddenly went cold from the perimeter. After a Waubonsee timeout, Kosner took over by driving to the rim for a basket to snap the drought. The freshman from Aurora Central Catholic High School scored in a similar fashion a few moments later to push the Chiefs' lead back up to 13 points at 68-55. Waubonsee iced the game with two and a half minutes to go when they grabbed three straight offensive rebounds on one possession. Vana finished off that sequence by scoring on a putback to make it 75-59 and thwart any comeback hpes the Stormers had.
Thomas' all-around effort paced Waubonsee as she scored 23 points, hauled down 10 rebounds, dished out four assists and made two steals. Heiman booked 12 points and 11 boards, and Martin added 12 points and 10 rebounds to round out the Chiefs' trio of double-doubles. Vana nearly made it a quartet as she chipped in with 13 rebounds and eight points. Kosner finished with 10 points, four assists and three steals. Waubonsee is in action again this coming Thursday, December 2, when they host the Kougars of Kiskwaukee College beginning at 5:30 p.m. (CDT).