The Hawks women’s basketball team lost their fourth consecutive game after they fell short to the Lassen Community College Cougars with a score of 57-42 on Tuesday.
The game was originally supposed to be the first of a three-game tournament played at a neutral site in Redding, but was postponed due to weather conditions. Head Coach Samuel Kirby said the Hawks tried a new defensive scheme and faced adversity with team captain and starting forward Annette Vasquez getting injured an hour before the game.
“I felt like one thing that we talked about before the game, knowing Annette wasn’t going to play, is that we have to adapt, we have to change,” Kirby said. “But the one thing that has to remain consistent is that we have to fight every possession, fight for loose balls, fight for offensive rebounds, fight in every way possible.”
Freshman point guard and team captain Ashley Gonzalez fought defensively and offensively. She ended the game with nine steals, nine rebounds and 29 points. She also completed 10 field goals, three three-pointers and six free throws.
“Defensively, I feel like we did okay,” Gonzalez said. “We could’ve done better, but I feel we did good with the press in our first week practicing it.”
The Hawks had improved their ball control from previous weeks and added pressure to the Cougar’s offense throughout the game. Freshman center Annie Garrison ended the game with 15 rebounds, eight offensively and seven defensively.
“We boxed out as much as we could, which was a big goal going in because they’re a lot taller than I was,” Garrison said.
Garrison ended the game with two free throws and one field goal, totaling four points. She said she was not happy with the result of her offensive performance.
“I think on offense, I wasn’t as aggressive as I should have been,” Garrison said. “But on defense, I feel like I tried to make up for it more than I should’ve.”
The Cougars were loud and chirpy throughout the game, which noticeably had an effect on some of the Hawk’s focus levels and even some referees as well.
Kirby said that he was overall proud of his team and that this was just part of the “maturation process” of a young team.
“The only thing that we should be focused on is how to score, how to get a stop on the defensive end and worried about our teammates,” Kirby said.