Eagles Can’t Find the Right Flow Against Emmaus

By Jon Crossman

Ankeny, Iowa – After going fourteen games into the season with no luck in having consecutive wins, the lady Eagles were determined Monday night to put a winning streak together. Going up against a familiar foe in the Emmaus Eagles, who they had only lost to by nine points previously (55-64), it looked like a fair fight throughout the entirety of the game. Unfortunately their yearning for a back-to-back victory was crushed once again by a relapse of poor shooting, and it's back to square one for the Eagles' winning ways.

Starting with what looked to be an adrenaline-filled game of cat and mouse, both Eagles teams exchanged buckets for a total of five lead changes in just the first quarter, signalling some competitive gameplay ahead. Faith shot well in the first, completing 37.5% of shots taken and executing excellent defense for a total of just one foul going into the second quarter. From there things started looking more lopsided, with the Emmaus players getting the circulation going with a 50% FG (8-16) in the second quarter compared to Faith's drastically downsized 17.6%. As the Emmaus lead grew gradually bigger the passing fell apart around the key for Faith, with rushed passes being swatted or scooped up by Emmaus defenders for a total of 7 turnovers and just 9 points for the Faith first string. Faith went into halftime with a challenging uphill climb, down 22-30.

The second half yielded better results in the early minutes for Faith's offense, with a more familiar show of confidence from the starting core and a crucial lockdown in the paint from center Rachel Kleczka (5 rebounds), stopping any attempts at second-chance baskets from Emmaus. Heading into the final stretch with the lead shortened to just 5 points, Faith demonstrated that they had the spirit to win; it just had to be manifested with the shooting and right passes to get the job done. Things did not go as planned in the case of the Faith playmakers, as none of the right shots seemed to fall and only four Faith players managed to score, each contributing two points to the total comeback effort. The ladies finished out with a below-overage FG of 27.7%, holding the Emmaus Eagles to a 50-58 final score.

Leaders for the night were Rachel Kleczka with 14 points, with Makenna Laib following close behind with 13, and Sarah Iler with 10. Kleczka also pulled down 22 rebounds and upheld the teams only block of the game, cementing her customary role on the team as a defensive giant and adding another double-double on to the season.

The Eagles hit the road on February 5^th to play Calvary University, at 4:45 p.m.