With the way both squads were shooting from the floor, it was only going to take one solid performance on the offensive glass to provide the difference. Madison got two as Renee Lucas and Abby Erb combined for 25 rebounds to lead the way past William Monroe 38-26, the first win over the Dragons for every member on the Mountaineers roster.
“They weren’t boxing out so we just kind of went in there looking for the rebound and a stick-back, do what we had to do,” Lucas said. “Today we played pretty good defense in the second half, and that’s won us games so far.”
The Mountaineers couldn’t have asked for a better start as they opened the game on an 11-0 run led by Lucas’ shooting and rebounding and some help from Chandler Gentry and Alexis Smith.
“We just got killed on the boards tonight,” said Dragons coach Phillip Lamb. “We weren’t mentally prepared to play tonight and I don’t think we were emotionally invested in this game in the right way. We didn’t show patience on offense, we just did everything we could to play poorly. But give credit to Madison because they saw we weren’t going to rebound so they just went after it. They were consistently more aggressive and that was the difference.”
It could have been worse. With just a minute left in the first frame, Monroe avoided falling into too deep of a whole thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers from Kaleigh Breeden cutting it to 11-6 going into the second. That quarter also belonged to the Dragons as they saw success defensively with their man defense and limiting Madison to just long shots, often forced.
“We got off to a great start but then all of a sudden it was like there was a lid on the basket,” said Madison Coach Katherine Johnson. “I think we didn’t shoot the ball that well in the second half, but it was also that (Monroe) did a great job defensively there. And that’s the game they play, so we’re glad to take the win here.”
By outscoring the Mountaineers 6-2 the deficit was cut to just one at the break. Out of the break Monroe was able to tie the game at 15, but the last 12 minutes of play Madison simply pulled away.
With Erb and Lucas owning the boards, the rest of Madison’s offense came to life, turning a 3-point lead going into the fourth into a 7-point margin with four minutes to go. With the Dragons forced to foul as Madison went to work on the clock, the Mountaineers created even more separation. Gentry picked up six of her nine points in the fourth quarter and Smith went a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line down the stretch to wrap up the win against the Mountaineers’ archrival.
“We’ve been keeping quiet for a while now so this was our way of saying ‘We got it now and we know what we’re doing,’” Lucas said.
Offensively, Monroe managed just eight field goals with Breeden and Arica tying for a team best eight points. Breanna Strother added six points and four rebounds. Kaila Stevens had the most success in the paint for the Dragons, scoring five points but also tallying six rebounds and four blocks.
On the other end for Madison, Lucas picked up the double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds. Erb had four points to go along with 11 boards and a trio of assists. Smith and Gentry finished with 10 and nine points respectively. Bria Johnson had 5 points with two clutch fourth quarter baskets.
Monroe (4-5, 2-1 Bull Run District) hosts Clarke County on Friday at 7:45 p.m.
Madison (5-3, 2-1) travels to Rappahannock also on Friday at 7:45 p.m.
