Eagles run past Merritt for 12th straight win

No one is going to accuse the College of the Siskiyous women's basketball team of being a one-woman show. In their 13-1 start to the season, the Eagles have gotten contributions up and down the roster and bring a deep stat sheet into the new year.

Siskiyous won their 12th straight game on Thursday evening in Weed, routing Merritt 88-50 as five players reached double figures.

“We have so many people play so many minutes, we're never really sure who is going to lead us,” coach Tom Power said. “We have people ready to come off the bench and shoot and run.”

Sophomore guard Chelsea Keuhner led all players with 19 points, including 11 of the game's first 13 points, and freshman center Karlee Myers scored 16. Different Eagles seemed to take over in different stretches, as freshman Kristi Arness added 15 points and sophomore Katie Pollak 12 in separate spurts.

After Keuhner got her team off to a 13-0 start, Arness came off the bench and hit back-to-back 3-pointers as the lead ballooned to 29-7.

Myers did most of her damage in the second half, as a 45-21 halftime lead turned into a 33-point margin on 6 straight Myers points.

The Eagles have won their last three games by an average of 48 points, but this time needed extra speed to get past a big Thunderbird team.

“They're a good rebounding team but couldn't take advantage of their opportunities underneath,” Powers said. “We just press and shoot really well.”

The Achilles heel for COS after 14 games has been rebounding with a 3-guard lineup that includes Keuhner

(5-foot-7), Natasha Robinson (5-6) and Amanda Harris (5-5). But one of the first players off of the deep bench is 5-10 center Allyson West, who had 8 points and a strong rebounding performance.

“We talked at halftime about how we need to do a better job rebounding,” Powers said. “We're a pretty small team with starting three around 5-6. We lose some speed when we go to the bench but we have a lot of options.”

West has come on strong of late, averaging 11 points and 9 rebounds in the last three blowout wins. The freshman is being asked to play more inside after playing on the wing at River City High in West Sacramento.

“Ally does a nice job of rebounding,” Powers said. “Her father is the coach of the boys team down there and she likes doing whatever we need on the court. She's used to doing what coach says.”

Merritt's only extended run came just before the half to cut a 43-14 lead to a 21-point deficit. But COS opened the second half on a 13-3 run, and finished the game on an 11-3 run.

The Eagles now go out on their annual New Year's San Diego tour, hitting four jucos in five days. COS was scheduled to face San Diego Mesa on Tuesday, Grossmont today and then Southwestern on Friday and Palomar on Saturday.

“Last year we proved quite a bit down there, going 3-1,” Powers said. “There's a lot of distractions with the 70 degree weather, but we'll try to stay focused and go 4-0.”

Lady Eagles dismantle Merritt

By Ray Wolf
Sports Source Editor - Weed
Published: Wednesday
Siskiyou Source

Kuehner puts up 19-points

It doesn't take the College of the Siskiyous Lady Eagles all game to do a game's worth of scoring. By early in the second half, the Eagles had all the points they needed to secure their win over Merritt.

As has become almost customary, the Lady Eagles flew to a 12-0 lead, last Thursday night. Chelsea Kuehner had 10 of the Eagles first 12 points, mostly off
of steals.

It took Merritt almost five minutes to score their first basket, a 3-pointer, to make it 12-3. COS, however, continued to light up the scoreboard and led at halftime, 45-21.

Early in the second half, Natasha Robinson hit a bucket to put the Eagles up 51-22. The 51 points were enough to secure the win, but the Eagles continued to add to the total, and went on to win in a sleeper, 88-50.

Kuehner led the Eagles with 19 points. Kristi Arness and Karlee Myers each scored 16, and Katie Pollack ruled the paint with 14 points.

The Lady Eagles are now 13-1, and are on the road again, until they host Shasta on January 20, at 5 p.m.

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