PUC Chronicle

Issue date: 2/5/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Jeremy Homan Sara Keilman looks for an open team mate during Saturday's loss to TCC.

With senior center Jessica Hamman on the bench the Lady Peregrines were shorthanded Saturday afternoon when they traveled to Palos Heights, Ill., to take on Trinity Christian College. PUC (6-17) suffered a 72-56 loss to the Lady Trolls (11-15) in a non-conference game.
Hamman, who scored 21 points against St. Francis Tuesday, was unable to play due to a shoulder injury acquired during that game.
"We'd rather have her playing, but there's always a plus side," said Head Coach Dennis Smith. "It gave the other girls a chance to step up."
Junior guard/forward Linsey Smith experienced limited playing time as well after suffering from bruised ribs Tuesday. Although she was released form the doctor, Coach Smith insists on keeping an eye on her.
Things started out rough for PUC. With a packed gym the Lady Peregrines were unable to stop the Lady Trolls from penetrating the paint; TCC managed a strong 13-0 run.
Coming off the bench, junior guard/forward Stephanie Peacock sunk the first basket for the Lady Peregrines. Peacock finished second in scoring for PUC with 12 points, close behind Smith with 16.
Although the team managed to unite against TCC's offensive assault toward the end, the Lady Trolls still led by 20 points at the half.
"We missed a lot of easy shots. A lot of the time they just need to concentrate," said Coach Smith.
The point of attack came late in the game for the Lady Peregrines, but it seems to be a tradition for PUC to recover after the break.
After slowing down and squaring up PUC managed to convert 12 of 24 field goals during the second half compared to 8 of 23 in the first, and defensively the Lady Peregrines put pressure on the opposition forcing them to make bad passes and shoot from the outside.
"Overall, we improved tremendously in the second half," said Coach Smith. "The girls just need to realize they need to play 40 minutes instead of 20."
Although PUC proved their intent to win, the Lady Trolls weren't willing to go down easy. The Lady Peregrines came to within 13 points of the lead, but that's as close as they got.
An aggressive second half came to a close with the Lady Trolls on top, 72-56.
"There's a big difference between the halves," said freshman forward Sara Keilman. "We slowed down and passed the ball, and when we did that we got excellent looks inside the paint."
Currently, the Lady Peregrines sit at sixth place in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference out of seven teams.
The second half of the conference season will begin next week when the Lady Peregrines host Robert Morris College Tuesday night, with the tip-off at seven.

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