12/23/13 Plymouth’s Lady Pilgrims were hoping for an early Christmas gift but Northwood’s Morgan Olson played the Grinch as the Lady Panthers came away with a 54-32 win over Plymouth.
“We allowed penetration and we talked about it at halftime having pride in our one on one defense and not having to have that rotation,” said Plymouth coach Dave Duncan. “(Jordyn) Frantz was getting to that sideline, turning the corner and when she got our defense to drop towards the rim then Olson was open right there in the middle of the paint. She finishes well around the basket and that’s where their team starts.”
Olson made the Lady Pilgrims pay early with six quick points in the paint in helping Northwood jump to a lead they would never look back from. Olson ended the night with 24 points adding eight rebounds and making herself a force to be reckoned with all night long.
Plymouth junior Hunter Stevens dueled Olson on the night for Plymouth picking up 10 points of her own to go with seven rebounds.
“When we need things to happen she can put the ball on the floor and penetrate,” said Duncan. “We needed that tonight and her play was pretty big tonight.”
Battling from behind all night long Plymouth (7-3) was able to stay within striking distance for most of the game and some key defensive stops had them within five at the halftime break at 21-16 in the low scoring affair that Plymouth was hoping for.
Out of the locker room the Lady Pilgrims were able to chip away with a chance to cut the lead to two but that’s when Jordyn Frantz made her presence known for Northwood. Frantz hit a big three and a running jumper in the lane, both after takeaways and the Lady Panthers began to pull away from that point on.
“It was mental breakdowns,” said Duncan. “Especially defensively. We told them what to expect and we just broke down. Our communication wasn’t good our focus wasn’t where it should be especially on the defensive end.”
Far from fading away Plymouth fought back with a full court defense incorporating a trap. Kaydon Fosler and Haley Harrell made some big plays but Plymouth was unable to turn them into points and Northwood (6-3) pulled away for the win.
“Maybe that’s something we can jump off of, and build off a little bit,” said Duncan of his success in the full court defense. “We thought early in the year that now that we’re back full strength maybe we can change our defenses up a little bit and give people something different to look at.”
Plymouth is back in action hosting a holiday “Shoot Out” with Norwell, Wawasee and Brebeuf on Jan 4.
Score by Quarters
Plymouth 6 16 26 32
Northwood 10 21 35 54
Plymouth (32) – Ashley Harrell 0 0-0 0, Elise Patrick 0 0-0 0, Hunter Stevens 1 8-10 10, Bailey Brown 0 0-0 0, Libbie Portteus 0 0-0 0, Kaydon Fosler 4 0-0 9, Haley Harrell 0 3-5 3, Allie Wright 0 0-0 0, Dylan Holiday 0 0-0 0, Shannon Stephenson 0 0-0 0, Kirstin Riise 0 0-0 0, Nicole Horvath 4 1-2 10. Totals 9 12-17 32.
NorthWood (54) – Andrea Tuttle 0 0-0 0, Tori Schwartz 0 0-0 0, Jordyn Frantz 5 5-6 16, Karen Holmes 0 0-0 0, Haley Roe 0 4-4 4, Inger Yoder 0 0-0 0, Taylor Fielstra 2 3-7 7, Shyla Southern 0 0-0 0, Tiffanie Alexander 0 1-2 1. Totals 17 19-25 54.
3Pt. FG – Northwood 1-4 (Frantz), Plymouth 2-14 (Fosler, Horvath).
Rebounds – Northwood 19 (Olson 8), Plymouth 13 (Stevens 7).
Assists – Northwood 3 (Frantz 2), Plymouth 3 (Harrell 2).
Steals – Northwood 10 (Alexander 5), Plymouth 8 (Harrell 4).
Rusty Nixon Reporter
