Photo by Rick Hoppenrath
While the students of Moraine Valley kicked back and relaxed during their winter break, the women’s basketball team continued grinding out their impressive season.
The women’s basketball team has impressively jumped out to a 13-4 record with a perfect 2-0-conference record.
The Cyclones tangled with archrival Kankakee Community College on December 6. Moraine Valley was not able to pull out a victory, even though they played mostly mistake free basketball. The Cyclones fell short in this thriller, 70-64. This would be a huge turning point for the team.
Following the loss, the women went on to win six consecutive games, two of which were conference wins. In the three games on the backend of that stretch, the Cyclones held each of their opponents below 50 points. Moraine has been able to keep up their winning ways with tough physical play, great defense and a balanced style of offense.
On January 14, Moraine Valley faced off against an above average South Suburban College. South Suburban came into the matchup boasting a 15-4 record. Despite a well-played game, the Cyclone women fell 67-54 to the fifteenth ranked South Suburban College of Division II NJCAA Women’s Basketball. The loss effectively ended the Cyclones six game-winning streak.
The Cyclones look to start another long, drawn out winning streak. “I think we got off to a slow start at the beginning of the season,” said second year starting point guard Brittany Bixman. “We are beginning to come together and recognize each other’s strengths”. This is clearly evident through their continuity on offense and their constantly improving defense. The Cyclones have also become less careless with the rock and have been winning the turnover battle.
So far this season, Natalina Cifaldi leads the team in steals, Brittany Bixman is the assists leader and Kim Young is the leader in points scored and three-pointers made. Unfortunately, the Cyclones have suffered injuries to Jessica Contant and Raven Phillips. The physical presence of Phillips will be missed as she is the team leader in rebounds and blocks.
Moraine Valley finishes their season with 12 conference games, a split of six home games and six road games. The team looks to continue their dominant play by reaching yet another 20-win season before making a deep run into the playoffs.
Bixman stated, “Our team has a lot of heart and a refuse to lose attitude”. It will be imperative that the Cyclones keep up this type of play in order to finish the season on a high note.
