by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information
Kansas City Kansas Community College’s No. 9 ranked and unbeaten Lady Blue Devils shook off a sluggish start and rolled to a 90-68 win over William Penn’s JV in Oskaloosa, Iowa, Friday night.
The win was the fourth in a row for the Blue Devils, who are back home Tuesday for a single game against Graceland junior varsity at 6 p.m. The game will be streamed on the KCKCC Blue Devil website.
KCKCC led only 16-15 after a turnover-marred first quarter but put the game out of reach in the first three minutes of the second period, scoring 15 straight points for a 31-15 lead. It was 45-25 by halftime, a half in which Blue Devils shot 48.6 percent but committed 11 turnovers.
Hannah Valentine, a 5-9 sophomore from Platte County, led the Blue Devils offensively, scoring a game-high 26 points on 10-of-12 shooting; finished out a double-double with 11 rebounds, also a game high, and handed out five assists.
Faith Putz, a 5-8 freshman from Des Moines, had a career-high 19 points and five rebounds while soph Aliyah Myers added 14 points and frosh De’Jaria Guillory 12 points. The driveshaft in the KCKCC offense, Myers also had a game high six assists, two steals, one block and just one turnover.
Knocking down 19-of 36 second half shots for 52.8 percent, the Blue Devils finished at .507 for the game and .500 from 3-point (9-of-18). Myers had three treys, Valentine and Putz two each. The Blue Devils also dominated the rebounding 40-27 but finished with 20 turnovers to 16 for the Lady Statesmen.
“We didn’t play our best tonight,” KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry said. “I know the outcome on the scoreboard looks pretty good but we can be much better. Too many turnovers. And we were fortunate William Penn missed a lot of open shots. Being 4-0 is never a bad thing but we have to improve quickly as our schedule will present some challenges soon.”