Kodiaks get back in win column on Friday night
By Lethbridge Herald on January 20, 2023.
Herald photo by JUSTIN SEWARD
Lethbridge College Kodiaks ‘ Madison Barfuss tries to go up for the basket, as St. Mary’s University’s Maitlynn Wilde and Adit Deng defend her in the paint on Friday night at Val Mateotti Gym.Justin Seward
Lethbridge Herald
The Lethbridge College Kodiaks basketball teams got back in the win column on Friday night after lacklustre efforts last week that resulted in losses.
The lady Kodiaks beat the first place St. Mary’s Lighting 91-69.
“I think we had a really good week of practice and the girls were all focused,” said Kodiaks head coach Ken McMurray.
“One of our main things with a young team (is)you’re trying to teach them to take great shots, A and B shots, if you were going to grade them, and not C shots that are kind of like questionable. So we really focused on assists this week and I think that really made a difference.”
The Kodiaks ended up having 27 assists.
LC only turned the ball over 10 times and only four points came of those giveaways and last week SAIT had 24 points off of 24 LC turnovers.
“So we took care of the ball better tonight and that was a huge difference,” said McMurray.
The Lightning have lost twice all season up until Friday night.
“So this was a huge win for us because we’ve had three losses in a row and we were kind of like flailing a little bit,” he said.
The Kodiaks will have a quick turnaround as they will head to St. Mary’s for a game tonight.
“Well we’ve just got to come with the same intensity,” he said.
“It’s tougher to win on the road. I mean most of the time, a team plays 10 points better on the road. So we need to come ready to play because they’re going to be a little more intense for sure.”
Kitawna Sparks had 24 points to lead the way for LC, while Matlin Jacobs had 16 points, nine assists and one steal in the win.
“It lets us know that we can compete with any team in the league,” said Jacobs, who was Player of the Game.
“So our focus tonight was to slow down the game for ourselves and make the right passes, and I feel like that took off a lot of the pressure and turnovers,” she said.
“I feel like that was a factor for sure.”
The Kodiaks improved to 8-5 on the season while the Lightning fell to 10-3.
The men’s team (10-3) beat St. Mary’s 79-69 in the later game on the evening.
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