2/3/24
It was Senior Night on Saturday, as the Sentinel Ladies hosted NOVA CC at the Hodel Center. After the game, the lone senior, Katie Eiler from Santa Maria, California was honored for her four years as a Sentinel. As to the game, it was marked by the outstanding play of freshman Liana DeVore, who broke the single-game ladies' scoring record with 45 points, surpassing the 39 that junior guard Hannah Kim put up against Mary Washington Club last year.
The NOVA CC Nighthawks hosted PHC two weeks ago and won a convincing 48-point victory. This was no surprise, considering NOVA is the third largest CC in the nation with over 75,000 students.
The Sentinels came into this contest missing two key players, sophomore Amelia Ruiz and freshman Gabrielle Page. When the Nighthawks raced out to a 17-4 first-quarter lead, it looked like another easy win was in hand for NOVA. That was not the case this time.
The Sentinels buckled down their interior defense, forced turnovers, and got key buckets from DeVore and sophomore forward Alexa Ross to cut the deficit to 21-17 with four minutes left in the second quarter. The Sentinels defensive effort was sparked by sophomore Gretchen Whittington and freshman MK Bebb, who each pulled down twelve rebounds for the game.
The second half started with the Sentinels trailing by eight, and the hot shooting of DeVore, who had 26 second-half points, kept the game close. Ultimately, the Nighthawks were able to trade enough baskets throughout the half and held off the Sentinels for a 72-55 win.
After the game Coach Weitz said: "We have been working on some offensive and defensive weaknesses in practice, and it was very gratifying to see the progress we made in this game. The difference between the game with NOVA two weeks ago and tonight was evident. We still have plenty to work on, but we are making good progress as we get closer to the National Championships in two weeks." When asked about Devore's performance, Coach Weitz said "Wow, what a game she had! She was dialed in with her shot, and as always gave maximum effort on both offense and defense." The Sentinels travel to Appalachian Bible next Saturday for another rivalry game and then are home as PHC hosts the NIT/WNIT Nationals on February 15th-17th.
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