The Lady Devils took on the Cowley Tigers Saturday evening who would come in with a 15-6 record overall. The ladies knew Cowley had a few "lights-out" shooters they would have to contain. And the ladies would do just that. In the first half, the ladies defensive intensity and rebounding would stun Cowley as they would not find any sort of offensive rhythm. Meanwhile, the ladies would have a huge spark from the bench in Maleina Fortin who would come in and hit two big 3s right off the bat. Her spark along with Courtney Crippens aggressive rebounding and full court attack would be unmatched for the Tigers. The ladies would take the lead into half 29-22.
In the second half, Fortin would continue her streak as she hit 2 more from beyond the arc. Gabby Guzman would have a big half as well as she would knock down crucial free throws and come up with 3 steals for easy buckets. Maisie Schroeder would record a double-double as she would find offensive rebounds to fuel her game. The ladies would take a 51-43 lead into the fourth. However, Cowley would not go away. They chipped away and would tie the game at 56 with about 7 min to go. There would be 4 lead changes in the next several minutes but the Devils would knock down crucial free throws late in the game to seal the deal. Ariel Walker would hit 4 of her own in the last 2 minutes. Brandi Jordan also hit 2 key free throws. It was a major team win for the ladies as they would knock off the Tigers 73-66.
Maleina Fortin led all scores with 14. Courtney Crippen and Ariel Walker each added 12, Maisie Schroeder added her 11 points and 10 rebounds while Brandi Jordan added 10 and Gabby Guzman with 9. And just a side note, the last time the ladies beat Cowley was in 2007, and in those 24 straight defeats, the average margin of loss was 30 points. The ladies will head to Indy on Wednesday.