By Susan Harman

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Something happened to Linn-Mar’s offense after the first quarter at Iowa City West. It vaporized under the smothering defense applied by the Women of Troy.

Third-ranked West gave up 19 first-quarter points and only 17 the rest of the game in a 56-36 victory over the 12th-ranked Lions. The victory cemented West’s hold on the lead in the MVC Mississippi Division race at 8-0, while second-place Linn-Mar is now 5-2. The Women of Troy are 10-1 overall and the Lions are 9-3.           

The first quarter saw Linn-Mar drill 5-of-7 3-point attempts and 7-of-11 shots overall. Some were wide open. Meanwhile West struggled to make shots.

 “We came out slow,” West senior Rachael Saunders said. “I’m not sure why but we did, and after they hit all those threes we got in the mindset defensively. We’re usually up in their face, and we weren’t doing that. So it was really important to get back to our basics. The offense came from that.”

The Women of Troy only made 4-of-16 shots in the first quarter but trailed only 19-13, so it could have been worse.

“Part of the problem was we were pressing and we didn’t get to kids,” West coach B.J. Mayer said. “We lost (Kamryn) Finley a couple times. So we got out of the press and we were able to identify who was doing what. We found all the shooters.”

West began to take control in the second quarter when the Lions went through a 10-possession scoring drought in which they missed six shots and committed four turnovers.

“Once we realized they were knocking down shots we were a lot more disciplined playing defense,” Maddie Huinker said of her team’s adjustment. “We weren’t flying out. We were under control. We were taking away the drive, and we were really good at help side in the lane too.”

West seemed to get its offensive mojo back with Lauren Zacharias hitting two threes and the transition game producing easier shots.

After leading 26-23 at halftime West pulled away with the same formula.

“We drove a lot more because we realized that the shots weren’t falling,” Logan Cook said. “There was an open lane, so we started to drive along there.”

“I think we were just a lot more patient the second half,” Huinker said.

Mayer said Cook and Emma Koch did a good job defending Linn-Mar’s high-low passing game. The Lions had to use a lot of time to find a suitable shot in their second-half possessions.

 “Defense is usually our strong suit and taking that 3-point shot away from them really kept them down,” Saunders said. “Also taking away (Lexi) Frese and (Carly) Spies was very important for us to not let the ball get inside.”

Two Lion starters didn’t score at all. Finley, the Lions’ leading scorer this season, had a team-high 10 points, but West’s defense after the first quarter, from Saunders in particular, limited her impact.

“She’s a strong player, and taking away her drive is something we focused on,” Saunders said.

Zacharias had 15 points and was by far the most efficient offensive player for West. Despite struggling from the field Cook finished with 16, making all eight of her foul shots. As a team West made 11 of 13 free throws.

Linn-Mar       19   4   7   6  – 36           

West High      13  13 13 17 – 56

Iowa City West (56) – Lauren Zacharias 6-8 0-0 15, Rachael Saunders 3-8 1-2 7, Maddie Huinker 1-4 2-2 4, Logan Cook 4-12 8-8 16, Emma Koch 1-6 1-2 3, Cailyn Morgan 2-3 0-0 4, Paige Beckner 2-2 0-0 5, Katie McGrane 0-1 0-0 0, Ali Tauchen 0-0 0-0 0, Brianna Faulkner 0-0 0-0 0, Carrie Callahan 0-0 0-0 0, Sydney Allen 0-0 0-0 0, team 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 19-46 11-13.

Linn-Mar (36) – Carley Spies 3-5 0-0 6, Ally Johnson 2-5 3-4 8, Lexi Frese 0-1 0-0 0, Megan Murphy 0-4 0-0 0, Kamryn Finley 4-8 0-0 10, Ellie Anderson 2-4 0-0 5, Macey Miller 0-2 2-2 2, Megan Renner 1-5 0-0 3, Carly Printy 0-2 0-0 0, Haley Chmelicek 0-0 0-0 0, Kayla Micek 0-1 0-0 0, Lanessa Lamas 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 13-39 5-6.

3-point goals – West 4-14 (Zacharias 3-4, Saunders 0-3, Huinker 0-2, Cook 0-1, Koch 0-1, Morgan 0-1, Beckner 1-1, team 0-1; Linn-Mar 5-20 (Johnson 1-3, Frese 0-1, Murphy 0-4, Finley 2-5, Anderson 1-2, Miller 0-1, Renner 1-1, Printy 0-1, Micek 0-1, Lamas 0-1). Total fouls – West 12, Linn-Mar 10. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.