Eagles vs. Providence Christian Round one

In their first game of the Emmaus Bible College Invitational, the Lady Eagles took on the Pilots of Providence Christian College. The last time these two teams had met was in the consolation bracket of the 2015 ACCA tournament, when the Eagles earned a hard-fought victory in their final game of the tournament. A lot has changed in the time between their two meetings, and this game was a good chance for the Eagles to prove it.

Marissa Kerttula (Freshman #23) started the Lady Eagles off with a lay-up, assisted by point guard Nakiah Kimble (Junior #1). After Providence quickly answered back with a 3-pointer, both teams struggled to add to their score, until Tiffany Williams (Freshman #44) was able to make a jumper at the 6:51 mark. This led the Eagles to a 17-7 run, even as Coach Graw put some of his freshman into the game. At the end of the quarter, the Eagles led Providence with a score of 19-10.

Both teams missed a few shots to start out the 2nd quarter, but Kimble hit her mark off an assist by Kerttula. Adding a lay-up each by Williams and Madison Laib (Junior #24), and a jump shot by Nicole Gordon (Freshman #21), the Lady Eagles were able to hold the Pilots scoreless until the 4:30 mark, when Lauren Wiebe sunk a 3-pointer. A few more lay-ups from each team and a couple of free throws from Laib allowed the Eagles to leave the court at halftime with a sizeable lead of 35-18.

The Lady Eagles started the second half well, with Laib, Kimble, and Kerttula each contributing a lay-up, and Laib knocking down one of the 3-point shots for which she is so well-known. As Coach Graw sent in his freshman team with a little more than 5 minutes in the quarter, the score was 49-27. While the young Eagles were only able to add another 2 points to their score (a lay-up by Kaila Shock, freshman #25), they did hold the Pilots to a mere 3 points in the remainder of the quarter.

The freshman team played for the entirety of the final quarter, allowing the Pilots to start the quarter off with a lay-up. Though Shock responded in kind with a lay-up of her own, the Pilots were able to add another couple of lay-ups and a jump shot to their score before Emma Kerttula (Freshman #5) scored a jumper. After a couple of scoreless minutes, Kerttula and Shock each added another lay-up to the scoreboard. Another lay-up by the Pilots and a made free throw by Gordon added up to a final score of 60-41.

The Lady Eagles were led by Madison Laib with 14 points and 1 rebound, and Tiffany Williams with 10 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 steals. However, the stats were spread very evenly among the entire Eagles team, showing how strong of team Coach Graw has put together this year.