ACC women roll

In wrapping up its pre-Christmas schedule with another win, Allen Community College’s women find themselves in unfamiliar territory.
The Red Devils thumped visiting Hesston Community College 76-57 Saturday to push ACC’s mark to 7-5 on the 2012-13 campaign.
“We’re happy, but by no means are we satisfied,” Red Devil coach Mark James said. “We played a tough schedule like this to get us ready for conference play when we come back.”
Saturday’s victory — three days after a disappointing loss to Pratt — showed why James has reason for optimism.
The Red Devils received key offensive contributions up and down the lineup and a series of defensive stops as Hesston attempted its comeback.
Allen opened a double-digit lead midway through the first half with much of the damage coming from 5-9 sophomore Hannah Blackwell.
Blackwell hit 4 of her 5 field goal attempts in the first half as Allen took a 34-28 lead into the break.
“They really didn’t have an answer for her inside,” James said. “But for whatever reason, we have these stretches when we just can’t get much going on offense. It happened to us Wednesday and we couldn’t respond. Tonight we did.”
The response was spearheaded by Iola’s own Kendra Taiclet.
Hesston closed to within seven points early in the second half when Taiclet drained a 3-pointer to push the lead back to 10, 42-32.
DaNara Day followed with a bucket before Taiclet drained another trey to push the lead to 47-32 with 15 minutes left.
Hesston never got the lead back into single digits after that.
Kayla Morton, who has battled back injuries since her freshman campaign, came alive in the second half, scoring 11 of her team-high 15 points after intermission.
“I’m so happy for Kayla,” James said. “This is as healthy as she’s been for a while. And we don’t need Kendra to hit many shots for us, but the ones she hits are always big ones.”
Day, meanwhile, was her normal explosive self, blowing by Hesston defenders on the way to a 14-point effort.
Blackwell wound up with 11 points and seven rebounds. Ebonie Jones had eight points and dished out three assists. Morton had three steals. Miracle Davis also had eight points.
“We’re happy with the break coming when it does,” James said. “It’s been a while since we’ve had seven wins by this early in the season. But this gives us a chance to refocus and get ready for conference play.”
Allen resumes play Jan. ??? against ???
Hesston (28-29—57)
Allen (34-42—76)
Hesston (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Smith 1-0-0-2, Miller 1-0-0-2, Lester 3-1-3-7, Lowry 1-0-2-2, Young 1/1-6-3-11, Christenson 2-2-1-6, Ladwig 5-4-2-14, Cockrum 0-0-2-0, Davis 6-1-4-13. TOTALS: 20/1-14-17-57.
Allen (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Jones 4-0-2-8, Saulsberry 0-0-1-0, Davis 2-4-2-8, Morton 5/1-2-2-15, Day 3/2-2-0-14, Flanigan 0-2-3-2, Peel 0/1-0-0-3, Taiclet 0/2-2-0-8, Ware 2-0-2-4, Seward 0-0-1-0, Blackwell 5-1-1-11, Hall 0-1-1-1. TOTALS: 22/6-14-16-76.