vs. Cy Fair

The team traveled to Cy Fair last Wednesday and came out cold, finding itself down 0-12 midway through the first quarter. And then things got interesting. Sophomore point guard Rachel Ashby broke the scoring drought with a trey off the assist from Senior guard JaKyla Cheeves. Junior forward Kendall Zoboroski banked in a 10-foot jumper with 35 seconds remaining in the quarter, and the game was remarkably close considering how much the Spartans struggled to find the bottom of the net. Early in the second quarter, Zoboroski scored off a drive from the left side to make it 8-13. Cheeves nailed a three, and Sophomore forward Kendall Davis scored and suddenly it was 13-16. Senior forward Maggie Parker gave a spin, under and up, and it was 15-16. And as suddenly as the team got hot, it cooled. There was a nine-point run by the Bobcats before Sophomore forward Bella Perroni knocked down a bank shot to make it 17-25. Another lull ensued and the Bobcats were making three's before Sophomore guard Aria Taylor found Ashby via the fast-break for a three, and it was 20-33. In the second half, Ashby put in a three-pointer, and the Spartans scored off a Davis steal, and it was 27-37 and still within striking distance. And yet Bobcats kept making three's. When Cheeves hit a three of her own, it was 30-44. Ashby did her best to keep the team in it as she hit Cheeves with a fast-break assist, followed with a steal and another fast break assist to Cheeves, and another assist to Cheeves to make it 40-49 with 4:50 remaining in the game. That was the closest the Spartans got, falling 42-60. Cheeves led with 21 points, and Ashby had 11.

vs. Cy Creek

The Spartans were home on Saturday to face Cy Creek. The last time they faced the Cougars they were undone by turnovers, lack of rebounds, and scoring droughts. This time they came out hot with the Kendall & Kendall show kicking things off as Davis got the assist to Zoboroski. Parker was en fuego, hitting back-to-back treys off assists from Ashby. Ashby followed by finding Cheeves on the fast-break, and the Spartans were up 10-6. Then the Cougars made a run before Parker stopped the bleeding with a drive and score to make it 13-16. Parker then went inside-out, finding Ashby for a three, and it was 16-18. And then the scoring gods frowned on the Spartans, and the half ended 16-27. In the second half, it was death by a thousand cuts as the Spartans committed turnovers and shots rimmed out, and the Cougars seemed to have everything go right. When Junior guard Ryen Greenwood found Parker for a three, it was 21-40 and the quarter ended 23-44. In the fourth quarter, Perroni showed her continuing maturity as she garnered a pass on the baseline and, instead of driving into traffic, she lined up a lovely jump shot. Senior Lilah Epps hit Sophomore guard Ella O'Connor for a jump shot, and then Epps drove hard around the defense for a contested layup. But the Cougars pulled away to win 33-53. Parker led with 12 points and nine rebounds.