V. Girls' Basketball vs. Holderness: CA 39, Holderness 28 12/15/2009

Overcoming some poor early season shooting, the Lady Penguins were able to dig in on the defensive end and come away with a 39 – 28 victory over Holderness. Kara Garland was finally able to get Cushing on the board just over 3 and a half minutes into play with a nice baseline jump shot. This basket would prove to be one of only four that the Lady Penguins would make in the entire first half. Nevertheless, the girls did not let their shooting woes get them down. Instead, they ramped up their pressure defensively and collected 9 steals in the half. In particular, Ali Lorden and D’Ana Rolle’s relentless ball pressure made it difficult for the Holderness team to get into their offense, and Meg Barry did a great job reading passing lanes and had multiple tips that lead to Holderness turnovers. Despite going 4 – 27 from the floor, the CA girls actually found themselves up at the half with a score of 14-9. It was one of the best defensive team efforts given in quite some time, and the girls should be proud of the intensity they brought to the floor. 

Other highlights from the first half include a nice elbow jumpshot made by Luciana Fionda – her first varsity basket as a Penguin, and some solid rebounding by Mackenzie Davis. The second half proved to be a very different game with both sides shooting and running the floor better. The Penguins came out on fire, and led by two quick baskets by Akwar Abula and a nice jump shot by Ali Lorden, were able to push their lead to 13 points. Holderness never gave in though, and with just over 5 minutes to play, they were able to cut Cushing’s lead to five. At that point, Ali Lorden hit a key jump shot to push the lead back to 7, and the girls were never really in jeopardy of losing again. Deserving of particular praise on the night were D’Ana Rolle and Akwar Abula. D’Ana finished the game with five steals, six assists and harassed the Holderness point guard all night long. In addition, despite some physical play, she protected the ball well and only had two turnovers on the night. Akwar owned the paint, inside, finishing with a double-double of 11 points and 14 rebounds. Other scorers were as follows: Kara Garland (11 points), Ali Lorden (7 points), Meg Barry (7 points), Luciana Fionda (2 points), D’Ana Rolle (1 point).