News

SIDNEY — The Montcalm Community College women’s basketball team erased a 14-point second-half deficit and briefly grabbed the lead in the fourth quarter, but the Centurions were unable to complete the comeback in a 63-54 season-opening loss to nationally ranked Owens Community College Saturday, Oct. 31. 

Facing the No. 5-ranked team in NJCAA Division III women's basketball, MCC trailed the Express 47-36 entering the final quarter before putting together an impressive rally. 

The Centurions cut the deficit to a single point when sophomore Karlie Bacon (Stanton, Mich.) scored on a drive to make it 50-47 with 6:38 remaining. Seconds later, sophomore transfer Mallory Miller (Baldwin, Mich.) converted a steal into a layup, trimming the Express’ lead to 50-49. 

Montcalm finally moved in front when freshman Abby Ferguson (Lowell, Mich.) scored inside off an assist from sophomore Kendall Stout (Stanton, Mich.), giving the Centurions a 51-50 advantage with 5:32 to play. 

The lead was short-lived, however, as Owens responded with a 3-pointer from Selina Deal and closed the game at the free-throw line to secure the victory. 

Montcalm head coach Scott Pedigo said the comeback effort showed what his team is capable of, even if it ultimately ran out of steam. 

“I think we just ran out of gas, missed a couple shots, had some missed assignments,” Pedigo said. “We might have been a little fatigued. We made some adjustments rotating our personnel a little bit.” 

Pedigo credited Owens, one of the top programs in Division III, for the challenge it presented. 

“We had three exhibitions to tweak our game, but you've got to give it to Owens,” he said.  

The game was tight throughout the first half. Montcalm led 8-7 after the first quarter despite struggling offensively, then stayed within striking distance before heading into halftime trailing 26-24. 

Owens seized momentum in the third quarter, opening the second half on a 10-0 run and building a 36-24 advantage. The Express eventually pushed the lead to 14 points before MCC found its footing and began chipping away. 

Stout helped spark the comeback by knocking down a pair of 3-pointers late in the third quarter, helping the Centurions cut the deficit to 47-36 entering the fourth. 

Pedigo said consistency within the team's defensive pressure remains a work in progress. 

“What we have to adjust, a lot of it is just trying to get different groups in there,” he said. “We have to learn to adjust and change positions and get our rotations right.” 

“Sometimes we went out of press and went in the wrong direction,” Pedigo added. “When we did it right, we looked really good for about three or four minutes, but then we lost our rhythm.” 

Stout led Montcalm offensively with 20 points, including three 3-pointers. Bacon and Miller each added 10 points. Miller led the team with four assists, and Syrjala and Maddy DeSmyter (Merrill, Mich.) led the team with eight rebounds each. 

Pedigo singled out several players for their efforts against a highly ranked opponent. 

“I thought Baylor did some nice things today against their No. 11,” Pedigo said of Baylor Syrjala. “Kendall did some nice things, as well. We had a lot of good pieces all over. Karlie made a couple good plays. Mallory really helped us out, too. She played some different roles for us.” 

“She helped us kind of get there,” he continued. “I think a lot of people had some good moments, but we've just got to put it all together.” 

Despite the second-half comeback, Pedigo pointed to the opening quarter as a major factor in the outcome. 

“Our first half is what killed us, getting only eight points in that first quarter,” he said. “That's not characteristic of us, shooting-wise. We had the looks. They just weren't going in.” 

Pedigo also noted the Centurions were unable to get sophomore three-point specialist Emma Rehkopf (Belding, Mich.) involved, offensively. 

“We couldn't her going,” he said. “If she got going, that would've changed some things.” 

While the loss drops MCC to 0-1, Pedigo believes the performance showed progress from a season ago, when Owens defeated the Centurions by a much larger margin. 

“Owens was a tough No. 5 team coming in here, and we held our own,” Pedigo said. “Last year, we took a pretty good beating from them. We lost by 50. So, we're making improvements.” 

“We can't let this decide the rest of our season,” he added. 

The challenge won't get any easier for MCC, which faces another difficult stretch of non-conference competition. 

“We've got two very tough teams to play next weekend,” Pedigo said. “Our non-conference schedule is pretty challenging. We're playing some really good teams, including last year's national champs. That schedule will get us ready for conference play.” 

Pedigo hopes the experience against Owens reinforces the importance of details moving forward. 

“Those little things matter,” he said. “Remember where you're supposed to be, listening to scouting reports. We just took a little too long to adjust to things.” 

UP NEXT 
The Centurions will travel to Plymouth, Indiana to take on Marian University Plymouth Friday, Nov. 6. Game time is 6 p.m. Montcalm will then face Cuyahoga Community College the next day with a game time start at 1 p.m.