OCEANSIDE, Calif.. - With their top two scorers unable to play due to injuries, the question was, who would step up and pick up the slack? Guards Elise Young and Anna Laux on any given day can account for 60-75 percent or more of the Bucs scoring, so figuring out who was going to pick up the slack was a question on everyone's mind. Center Jakaree Harris took the keys and drove the Park Gilbert women's basketball team (11-13) to a 46-43 win over The University of Saint Katherine (5-12).
"I love the resiliency of this team," said Buccaneers head coach Jeff Fore. "Everyone stepped up today. It could have been very easy to throw in the towel without Elise and Anna but they fought and clawed and executed when necessary to earn the win,
Harris was a big part of why the Bucs were victorious on this afternoon. She led the was on both ends of the floor with 15 points on 7-12 shooting from the floor and 18 rebounds (6 offensive). Jasmine Kelly and Mai Aguigui both added 12 points each. All told, those three players accounted for 85 percent of the Bucs scoring.
Park Gilbert trailed by one at the end of the first quarter, then a 10-0 run in the second quarter led to a seven point lead the Buccaneers would never relinquish. The Bucs had a lead as large as nine in the quarter and settled for an eight-point advantage at the half. Then in the third stanza, Park Gilbert added to their lead and held a 14-point lead 44-30 at the end of the quarter. The way things were going, you would think the Buccaneers would be able to cruise home. But if you look back up at the final score, you can see they only scored two points in the fourth quarter and added more gray hairs to their head coaches head.
Park Gilbert did not score until a Harris basket with under three minutes left in the game and Saint Katherine had cut the deficit to three. But the Park Gilbert defense kept the Firebirds off the board and they were able to hold on for the a three-point win.
There are four games remaining on the schedule, of the three teams they have left to play, the Buccaneers own a 3-2 record against them as they try to finish the season with a winning record.
Next Friday and Saturday, February 7-8, the Bucs travel to Espanola, N.M with the men's basketball team to take on Northern New Mexico on back-to-back days.
