(photo by Jim Lindquist)
Rochester Mayo held Farmington without a field goal for seven-plus minutes to open the second half and rolled to a 60-36 non-conference win Thursday night at Tiger Gym.
"We showed some positives in spurts but then turned around and had stretches where we made a lot of mistakes," Tiger coach Sondra Chadwick said. "We had a poor start again and that has been something that has bothered us all year."
Each team had six field goals in the first half but the Spartans led 21-13 at intermission thanks to a 9-1 advantage at the foul line.
"As a team we are not very big," Chadwick said, "so we have to learn to to block out and rebound better. They got a lot of points in the paint."
Mayo put the game away early in the second period with an opening 21-4 spurt. The Tigers didn't record their first second half basket until 10:55 remained in the game.
Sofia Chadwick and Isis Alexander shared scoring honors for Farmington with nine points apiece. Chadwick added three assists and Alexander had three rebounds.
The loss dropped the Tigers to 0-8 for the season but brought them a game closer to the return of all-Missota Conference forward Taylor Meyer, out since July after undergoing knee surgery for a torn ACL.
"Having Taylor back will give us an inside scoring presence," Chadwick said, "but just as importantly, she will open up opportunities for other players. She will make everyone better."
Depending on the results of tests scheduled for next week, Meyer could be back on the court for the conference opener at Red Wing on Jan. 6.
In the meantime, the Tigers travel to Orono for a four-team tournament, Dec. 28-29. They open tourney play against Sartell at 5:00 p.m. on the 28th.
