The College of DuPage women's basketball team fell to the Kennedy-King College Lady Statesmen, 79-65 on Monday, Jan. 5. A 27-point third-quarter was COD's best of the night, but the defense couldn't slow the KKC charge as they put up 31 of their own in the period.
Scoring started slow for both teams before
Erin Brown sunk the first basket of the game after two minutes of action. Brown would go on to score the first 10 points for the Chaparrals.
Ayaani Gusman chipped in the first of her three three-pointers in the opening quarter.
Saniyya Harvey coaxed a steak then broke away for an easy lay-up. After ten minutes, COD trailed 21-15.
Gusman's second make from three-point range was the high point for COD in the second quarter, as DuPage could only gather eight more points before the break including a tough basket from
Lexi Lopez.
Down 37-26 at the half, Coach Kristin Ison again rallied the troops for a high-scoring third quarter, but KKC kept up the same pace. Six different Chaps scored out of the halftime break, including a three-pointer from Gusman along with deep makes from
Kaisje Pryor and
Jamie Hasemann. Gusman got to the line six times in the period, making five of them. Lopez chipped in seven more during the period, while Harvey completed an and-one after being fouled going up for a layup.
Lopez netted a shot from deep in the final quarter, while Gusman connected on three more makes from the charity stripe, but the Lady Statesmen were able to pull away with the 14-point victory down the stretch.
Gusman led all Chaparrals with 18 points including three three-pointers; Brown ended her night with 14 total points and Lopez finished with a solid dozen as the only COD players in double-digits.
COD (2-12) continues the season against local rival Joliet Junior College (6-7) on Tuesday, Jan. 6 at 5 p.m. inside PEC Arena. In 2024, the two teams went to a double overtime classic with JJC escaping 87-85 before COD got revenge last season with a 74-72 victory on the road. DuPage has taken three of the last four matchups after breaking a ten-game losing streak that dated back to 2017. The Wolves were last in action on Dec. 20, an 81-63 loss to Anoka-Ramsey CC (Minn.)
