SectionsLady Bears prevail after trailing
Team pulls through after rough start
Tyler Thompson
Issue date: 2/9/10 Section: Sports
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The Lady Bears (now 16-6, 8-3) swept the two game conference homestand this weekend. On Friday, the team beat Creighton for its season sweep against the Bluejays, 70-64.
The team has fared well in conference play and has eliminated some of the mistakes that plagued them early in the year, such as mental breakdowns and missed opportunities from the charity stripe.
The team produced 56 second-half points and capitalized on Drake's turnovers, scoring 33 points off the turnovers.
Casey Garrison led the team with 25 points. Jaleshia Roberson had another big game from the perimeter producing 20 points and freshman Christiana Shorter had another double-double scoring 16 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.
Despite the heavy shooting from the guards, the team may not have come away with the victory if it hadn't been for the timely shooting by Melissa Busby.
Busby scored 16 points and shot 57 percent from beyond the arc.
"I knew that we were going to pull this one out," Busby said.
The team is emphasizing effort on the defensive end, which they believe will carry over to the offensive side.
The victory Sunday was the first regular-season win for the Lady Bears' against Drake since February of 2005. Sunday's win ended a seven-game losing streak against the Bulldogs.
"We really struggled in the first half but we stayed together and rallied around one another," Garrison said.
The Bulldogs have now dropped five consecutive conference games and the Lady Bears continue their successful record over Valley opponents.
"This is a learning process and we have to stay together," Garrison said.
With her 15-point performance on Friday against Creighton, and her 25-point outing on Sunday, Garrison is now 22nd in Lady Bear history in career scoring.
Garrison said that first half consistency is something that the team is still trying to conquer.
"We just need to be more consistent in the first half and play hard for the entire 40 minutes," Garrison said.
The team will hit the road this week to begin a three-game conference road trip. They will return home on Feb. 26 to battle the Southern Illinois Salukis.
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