Lady Hubs basketball team pressed by Geneseo

Lundquist scored game-high 26 points in 67-55 loss to Lady Leafs

Russell Hodges
Posted 12/7/17

Abby Lundquist caught fire during the fourth quarter of Rochelle’s varsity girls basketball contest against the Geneseo Lady Leafs on Friday, but while the junior finished the evening with a game-high 26 points, the Lady Hubs were unable to dig out of an early hole created by a tall and talented Geneseo squad.

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Lady Hubs basketball team pressed by Geneseo

Lundquist scored game-high 26 points in 67-55 loss to Lady Leafs

Posted

GENESEO — Abby Lundquist caught fire during the fourth quarter of Rochelle’s varsity girls basketball contest against the Geneseo Lady Leafs on Friday, but while the junior finished the evening with a game-high 26 points, the Lady Hubs were unable to dig out of an early hole created by a tall and talented Geneseo squad.

The Lady Hubs trailed 57-39 after three quarters before Lundquist found her shooting stroke, scoring 14 of her team’s 16 points in the fourth quarter of Rochelle’s 67-55 loss to the Lady Leafs. Senior Jacie Wyatt added 15 points for the Lady Hubs, who dropped to 3-6 overall and 0-2 in Northern Illinois Big 12 West competition.

“Confidence has been up and down for Abby this season, but I think this fourth quarter will definitely help her out,” head coach Tony Rowan said. “We’re going to take a look at the film, and hopefully over our next few games coming up, she can stay in a rhythm shooting which I think she found in the fourth quarter.”

Geneseo entered Friday night’s game with a noticeable size advantage, as two girls (Breanna Smith and Hannah Himmelman) stood at least 6 feet tall and three more players (Heather Dietrich, Mariah Smith and Jane Thomas) were between 5 feet 8 inches and 5 feet 9 inches. But the Lady Hubs battled fiercely in the first half, and the girls only trailed 16-12 after one quarter behind four points from both Wyatt and senior Morgan Baker, who ended the game with eight points.

The Lady Leafs quickly pulled away in the second quarter, however, utilizing their athleticism and size on defense to full-court press Rochelle and force the Lady Hubs into turnovers and mishandles out of bounds. Geneseo outscored Rochelle 19-10 in the second quarter to lead at halftime 35-22.

“They’re athletic, they’re quick and they’re long,” Rowan said. “They forced us to make a lot of bad passes and they did a tremendous job of flying all over the court. We did our best, but we need to be more forceful when they’re taking away our space. We knew that was going to be a factor for us, but it’s very hard to mimic their size in practice… I think we’ll be more prepared the next time we see them.”

Wyatt led the Lady Hubs with 11 points in the first half, and as the only player on Rochelle’s roster above 5 feet 9 inches, the senior forward was attacking the basket early and often, rising above Geneseo’s lengthy forwards for a handful of close-range jumpers and drawing contact underneath the basket. Despite earning two fouls in the first quarter, Rowan said Wyatt recovered nicely and gave the Lady Hubs a solid performance Friday.

“She isn’t afraid with the basketball,” Rowan said. “Anytime she’s being aggressive with the basketball, we know she’s going to make the right move.”

Seniors Cesca Vardman and Allysa Harding combined for six Rochelle points. Himmelman and Mariah Smith each scored 14 points to lead Geneseo, while both Josie Brown and Keeli Frerichs added 13 points for the Lady Leafs.