JOHNSTOWN – SUNY Adirondack's Lady Timberwolves had won five games in a row. The Lady Raiders had won four of their five games this month, but lately had been missing their former intensity. Both of those trends changed dramatically on Saturday afternoon in the Raiders Den. FM defeated Adirondack 70-45.
The Lady Raiders took an early lead when Sherice Gayle forwarded a nice pass to Monae Abrams who scored and put FM on top 5-4. The home team took off at that point and kept adding to their lead.
Photos: Sherice Gayle feeds Monae Abrams who scores, putting FM in front to stay
The Raiders were playing without regular starter Stephanie Rice. Rice was nursing an injury, but FM still had plenty of firepower. Veronica Chea stepped up and had a big game. Chea is typically the fastest player on the court, and on Saturday she was also the top point producer. Her 17 points led all scorers.
Katrina Garrett's field goal from just inside the arc put FM ahead 7-4. Gayle tallied twice. Kendra Jordan ran coast-to-coast for two. Chea put back a rebound. Erica Redwood hit two long two-pointers. Gayle was fouled while shooting and sank both free throws, making the score 21-6 FM.
Chea sank a three from the left corner. Jessica Woney tallied two from the line. 30-10 FM. Chea sank two more threes. Garrett scored after a nice move through traffic. The score was 41-19 at the break.
Photo: Sherice Gayle scores
The Lady Raiders' offense cooled a bit at the start of the second half, but their defense remained tight. FM had hustled back and played intimidating defense up to this point, and they kept it that way. After the game, Head Coach Kevin Jones stated that he was pleased to see the team's best intensity since their game at Mohawk Valley.
Every Lady Raider saw action, and 11 different FM players scored. The final score was 70-45. FM is now 13-3 for the season and 7-1 in the Mountain Valley Conference. They are once again in sole possession of first place in the conference, and their next game will be a showdown with the #2 team, Schenectady. The Lady Raiders will visit the Lady Royals on Wednesday. The game will be played at the Schenectady Y and will tip off at 5:00 p.m.
Photo, right: Kendra Jordan
Scoring:
FM: Jordan 2, Chea 17, Garrett 6, Flowers 6, Ev. Redwood 1, Gittens 5, Woney 2, Abrams 9, Wetsky 3, Er. Redwood 5, Gayle 14; Total 70
Adirondack: Graham 11, Forcier 2, Hansen 2, Maday 6, Warner 10, McLaughlin 2, Jenkins 11, Ondreyko 1; Total 45
Mountain Valley Conference Standings
Fulton-Montgomery 7-1
Schenectady 6-1
Mohawk Valley 5-2*
Hudson Valley 5-3
Herkimer 3-5
Adirondack 2-6
North Country 2-5* *MV at North Country 1/25 score not available
Delhi 0-7
