Cold Shooting Dooms Eagles at Emmaus

By Jon Crossman

DUBUQUE, Iowa – Coming off a strong team win in Kansas City over the weekend, the ladies were prepared to find another spot in the win column and set up a streak of victories to carry over into a weekend slate of home games. Unfortunately, the Eagles of Emmaus posed too unique a challenge, even with their shortened roster, putting Faith back on the hunt for a higher position in the conference standings.

Both sides were glacial in their shooting in the first half, with Faith connecting on just 6 of 37 shot attempts, while Emmaus connected only slightly better at 15 of 41. The Eagles kept the score within six at the end of the first quarter, but a storm of layups and defensive shutouts from the Emmaus first string prevented Faith from cooking up a comeback, and the teams went back to the locker rooms with the game at 17-33.

Faith's shooting came alive in the third quarter to build up a 12-point streak in the first three minutes, and the Eagles pulled within two with five minutes remaining in the third. Emmaus put an end to Faith's rally with one of their own as they finished the quarter on an 18-6 run.

Center Rachel Kleczka reached into her bag of tricks for the latter part of the game, stunning the opposition for 12 of the team's 38 second-half points. The ladies had a phenomenal last effort, linking up passing plays for a perfect 0 turnovers in the final quarter, and pulling within four points with four minutes remaining. Emmaus closed out the game on a 9-2 run to end Faith's hopes at a miraculous comeback.

Game leaders were Rachel Kleczka, who finished with 16 points, followed by Donnecia King with 13 and Sarah Iler with 9. Mary Yarnell and Morgan Stephens both performed well at the foul line, connecting for 100% shooting in free throws. Kleczka cleaned up in the backcourt as well, keeping shots down with an admirable 5 blocks. King finished a double-double with her game-high 22 rebounds.

The ladies ended their three-game campaign across the Midwest and stay put at home court for the next game against Calvary University on the 15^th at 7:30 p.m. in Ankeny.