(photo by Jim Lindquist)
Tiger coach Sondra Chadwick said that even though her team trailed at Chaska by just two points (32-30) at halftime in Tuesday night's 68-60 Missota Conference loss, she could see a lack of focus in its defensive effort.
"We had too many breakdowns that led to too many wide open shots," she said. "They knocked down five three-pointers in the half. We needed to be staying with our assignments and rotating better."
The Tigers did a better job of shutting down the Hawks' perimeter game in the second period and a steady offensive effort kept the visitors in the contest but in the end the failure to come up with defensive stops when needed proved the difference.
"After we shut down their outside shots, they started to feed the ball to their 6-2 post player," Chadwick said.
The Tigers had chances to to take the lead in the second half but missed opportunities in transition hurt the cause.
Sofia Chadwick's three-pointer with under a minute to play pulled the visitors to within three points but the Tigers were forced to foul and Chaska put the game away from the charity stripe.
Taylor Meyer had her most productive game of the season, scoring a game-high 20 points and snaring 13 rebounds. Isis Alexander tallied 13 points and handed out five assists. Chadwick finished with 13 points, three assists and three steals. Dava White returned to action and chipped in with nine points.
"As we head into the second half of our conference season, we will need to ratchet up our intensity because there will likely be a lot of close games," Chadwick said. "The girls need to understand every single possession is important and we can't ever lose our focus."
The Tigers kick off the final round of conference play with a home contest versus Red Wing Friday night at Tiger Gym. The Wingers won the first game between the two teams 70-68.
