On Tuesday, November 14th, the Spartans traveled to Fort Bend Austin and came out firing! Junior guard Aria Taylor scored her team's first bucket off a cross-court pass from Senior guard Emma Adisa. Freshman Tess Stephenson executed a reverse layup off the assist from Adisa. Junior post Kendall Davis intercepted a pass and found Junior point guard Rachel Ashby with the outlet. Davis then raced down the floor, received the ball back from Ashby, spun and put the ball in the basket. Ashby rocked a three off the pass from Adisa. The script flipped and Ashby hit Adisa for a three. Taylor drove and dished to Ashby for a basket from the right wing and when the first quarter ended, the hot-shooting Spartans had 16 points. But Fort Bend Austin had 17.
The Bulldogs went 29-4 last year and this year's version is fast, strong, and shoots very well. Yet the Spartans were going toe-to-toe. Davis came out in the second quarter and drove the length of the floor vs. the press and scored to be within four of the Bulldogs. Taylor's eagle-eye found Senior forward Kendall Zoboroski down low for two. But the Bulldogs were slowly stretching the lead, helped in some way by the refs seemingly determined to avoid calling any fouls that the District Attorney would not deem a felony. Taylor grabbed a steal and converted for a score. The Spartans' defense gave up too many drives down the middle and the Bulldogs took advantage of the opportunities. Taylor snared an offensive rebound and scored. Davis found Adisa in the right corner for a three, and the half ended with the Spartans down 28-46.
Ashby started the third quarter with her best CJ Stroud impression, nailing a long-distance pass to Stephenson for a basket. Taylor scored off the rebound. Ashby unleashed her rocket arm a second time to Stephenson for a score. Junior guard Meghan Hallmark scored off the offensive rebound. Hallmark scored again from seven feet off the assist from Junior forward Bella Perroni. Zoboroski grabbed a board and scored, and the third quarter ended down 40-72.
The fourth quarter was not pretty as the Stratford Head Coach rotated her bench and Austin Fort Bend's coach did not. Taylor scored. Stephenson had a nice block, and Adisa put in the final bucket for the Spartans. Taylor led the Spartans with 11 points plus six rebounds. Adisa put in eight points. Stephenson finished with seven.