Timely shooting, crisp passes and a downright stifling defense made the Allen Community College women a winner in their season debut Saturday.
After spotting visiting Hesston an early 2-0 lead, the Red Devils held Hesston without a field goal for more than seven minutes as part of a 10-2 run to take the upper hand for good.
Meanwhile, the Red Devils put five players in double figures in their 85-61 victory in Katie Mahoney’s first game as ACC head coach.
Allen (1-0) heads to Nevada, Mo., Tuesday to take on Cottey College.
“I’m proud of the girls,” Mahoney said. “I thought we were a little nervous at the start, but I’m happy with how the girls responded. They really played well together.”
While the Red Devils had several standouts, none shined brighter or more consistently than St. Joseph, Mo., freshman O’ceonna Weston, who had 20 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Controlling the tempo from the outside was sophomore Dodge City transfer Jameeshia Armstrong, who scored 17 with seven rebounds and four assists.
“The offense really ran well with those two in there,” Mahoney said.
Allen was without a field goal for the game’s first three minutes until reserve guard Erika Essman drained a 3-pointer to give the Red Devils a 3-2 lead. She connected twice more on jumpers early as Allen pushed its lead to double digits by the halfway point of the first half, 20-10.
“Erika hit some big shots,” Mahoney said. “She really forced their defense to come out and free things up for us inside. We were pretty effective on offense after that.”
Meanwhile, the Red Devil defense was active from the get-go.
“We did a good job with our help defense, and rotating,” she said. “We were able to disrupt a lot of their shots.”
Allen limited Hesston to 20 percent shooting in the first half and went into the locker room leading, 40-25.
Hesston responded early in the second half, after Armstrong went to the bench with foul trouble. The Larks opened the second period with a 6-0 run to pull within nine, 40-31.
The teams traded baskets until Nicole Salazar hit a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws a minute later to put ACC’s lead back at 11, 55-44.
Armstrong, playing with four fouls, fed Weston inside for an easy basket, then drained a pair of free throws and a buzzer-beating 3-pointer with 8:30 remaining to put the lead at 63-44.
The advantage never dipped below 14 again.
Nicole Salazar added 11 points and three assists, Essman wound up with 12 points and Briana Barrett had 10 points and seven boards. Kylee Molisee — Allen’s only returning player from 2012-13 — also had seven rebounds.
Hesston was paced by Nikkita Lester and J’liyah Tillman with 12 points apiece. Makayla Ladwig added 11.
Foul trouble was a problem for both teams, who were whistled for a combined 54 fouls and shot a combined 80 free throws. Hesston had three players foul out. Allen had three players with four fouls by game’s end.
Hesston (25-36—61)
Allen (40-45—85)
Hesston: (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Drew, 1/1-2-3; Saxton, 0/1-0-2-3; Snow, 0-1-2-1; Lester, 1/1-7-3-12, Lowry, 2-2-5-6, Young, 1/1-2-5-5, Ladwig, 3-5-1-11, Cockrum, 1/1-0-3-5, Tillman, 2/1-5-5-12, Manier, 1-1-0-3. TOTALS: 11/5-24-31-61.
Allen (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Salazar 0/2-5-4-11, Hancock 0-2-1-2, Armstrong 1/2-9-4-17, Fisher 2-1-3-5, Molisee 3-1-1-7, Weston 6/1-5-2-20, Essman 1/3-1-4-12, Cleaver 0-0-1-0, Stevens 0-1-1-1, Barrett 4-2-2-10. TOTALS: 17/8-27-23-85.
Newcomers pave way for Allen women
