DRYDEN – The FM Lady Raiders got their season off to a great start at Tompkins Cortland CC ("TC3") on Saturday afternoon. Head Coach Kevin Jones' squad moved the ball well and outran the home-standing Panthers. The result was an 89-58 FM victory.
Photo: Stephanie Rice shoots while Veronica Chea (#3) gets into position
Freshman Stephanie Rice netted the first seven points for the Lady Raiders, but she had plenty of assistance from her teammates. The Panthers hung tough and made a good game of it in the early going. Both teams were scoring at a fast pace.
The Panthers tied the game at 10-10. FM's Erica Redwood then hit from the left side and the visitors led by two. Rice's field goal from near the arc made it 18-10. Kendra Jordan drove through the lane for two, raising the score to 20-14 as the midpoint of the first half neared.
FM's women were also playing a well-disciplined game. By the time that TC3 had committed seven fouls, the Raiders had committed only one.
The Raiders' scoring cooled off a bit later in the half, and the Panthers made a nice comeback. They crept to within two, at 20-18, but two Rice free throws and a breakaway by Evanda Redwood put FM up by six.
Photo: Erica Redwood scores two despite being fouled
TC3 came back again and closed to 24-22, but a Rice steal-and-jumper, a Veronica Chea field goal from close in, a put back by Erica Redwood, and a nice tally off a rebound by Sherice Gayle made the halftime score 34-26.
FM had done a fine job of ball hawking in those first 20 minutes, and seven different Raiders had scored. Still, given her 15-point first-half output, the Panthers must have felt they'd had a steady diet of Rice.
Erica Ward got FM's scoring started in the second half. Then two dandy breakout passes by Veronica Chea set up four more points. After one minute of play, FM led by 14 points.
FM's standout guard Kassandra Flowers sank three shots from beyond the arc, and FM was ahead 56-31.
Coach Jones began to substitute liberally, and by the time the contest ended, every Lady Raider had scored. Rice had a 23-point game. Both Flowers and Katrina Garrett had added 11 points to FM's ledger. In all, it was a nicely-balanced outing for the visiting Raiders.
Photo: Jessica Woney shoots
The squad will play again on Sunday afternoon. They will meet the Lady Hornets of Broome CC at Broome with a 1:00 p.m. tipoff. The Hornets will enter the contest with an 0-2 record, after bowing to Schenectady CCC 68-56 on Saturday.
C.J. Bonny, website writer
Scoring:
FM: Jordan 8, Ward 2, Chea 3, Garrett 11, Flowers 11, Rice 23, Evanda Redwood 4, Gittens 3, Woods 2, Woney 2, Abrams 6, Wetsky 2, Erica Redwood 8, Gayle 4, Total 89
TC3: Keister 2, Bowman 4, Ideman 6, Adams 1, Forehand 18, Kern 6, Cuffe 2, Ordway 5, Goodwin 4, Policay 2, Bernstein 2, Lockwood 6, Total 58
