(Sugar Grove, IL.) – Waubonsee Community College's women's basketball team, coming off a pair of road wins after opening the season with two home losses, looked to change that trend on Saturday afternoon on their home court. The Chiefs (3-2) did that by downing the College of DuPage 55-48 in a non-conference match-up at Erickson Hall Gymnasium. The new look Chiefs, with a roster consisting of nine freshmen and only one returning sophomore, pulled away in the fourth quarter to register their third straight win.
Savannah FitzSimons started the scoring a minute into the game when she streaked down the right side of the lane past her defender for a lay-up. The Chaparrals (2-3), who owned a slight height advantage across the floor, dominated the boards in the opening minutes. However, DuPage could not convert on several opportunities and finally got on the board with a free throw after three minutes of action. The visitors got on track over the next couple of minutes and pulled ahead 5-4 midway through the first quarter. A long three-pointer from the left wing by Anna-Marie Godina put the Chiefs in front 10-7 with two minutes left in the period. The stanza ended when DuPage's Madison Dubiel connected on a three at the buzzer to knot the score at 12-all.
Another triple by Godina off a nice assist by Makayla McNally early in the second quarter put Waubonsee ahead 17-12. The score stayed that way over the next three minutes of play until Abi Dietlin buried a 15-foot jumper from the left side giving the Chiefs a seven-point lead midway through the quarter. Godina then knocked down her third trey to push the lead to double digits for Waubonsee. However, the Chaparrals chipped away at that deficit and closed the half with an 8-0 run to head to the locker room trailing just 22-20. For the half DuPage snagged 10 offensive rebounds leading to several second chance baskets to overcome shooting just 17 percent (6 of 34) and 14 percent (2 of 14) from three-point range.
Just after DuPage tied the game at 23 two minutes into the second half, McNally converted a three-point play to put Waubonsee back in front. The Chiefs still held a slim lead midway through the third quarter as they battled back and forth. Godina then drilled a long three-pointer from in front of Waubonsee's bench as the home team grabbed a 34-28 lead. DuPage head coach Abigail Talley called a timeout, and her team then responded with a quick 5-0 run to get within a point with a minute remaining in the period. McNally and Godina each made a pair of free throws shortly thereafter to give Waubonsee a 38-33 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
Both teams struggled offensively early in the fourth quarter with only three made free throws being tallied between them. Emily Mengerink then made a steal and raced down court to score on a breakaway lay-up and was fouled. The freshman from Oswego completed the three-point play to extend the Chiefs' lead back up to seven points at 43-34 midway through the final period. FitzSimons then buried a 10-foot pull-up jumper in the lane to suddenly give Waubonsee a double-digit lead with four minutes to go. Moments later a big steal by Anyae Newson and pass to Mengerink for a lay-in pushed the lead to 51-37 with three minutes left. An offensive rebound and put back basket by Newson a short time later made it a 16-point game as time began to run out for the Chaparrals. DuPage then scored a trio of baskets in the final minute to make the final score closer before the buzzer sounded.
Waubonsee took the game despite DuPage holding a 30-5 edge in bench scoring and the Chiefs committing 28 turnovers. Godina led the way for Waubonsee with 17 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals. McNally booked a dozen points and grabbed five boards, while Newson finished with eight points and 10 rebounds. Dietlin snagged six boards, FitzSimons corralled five caroms in the win as well. Coach Jim Williams' Chiefs are not in action again until Monday, November 25 when they host Milwaukee Area (WI) Technical College. The Chiefs and Stormers are set to tip-off at 5:30 p.m. with the men's contest to follow at 7:30 p.m.
