WBB| Kodiaks Upset Red Hot South Division Leading St. Mary’s Lightning in Dominating 93-69 Victory
January 20, 2023- The Kodiaks faced off against the south division-leading St. Mary's University Lighting looking to snap their 3-game losing streak as the Lightning are riding a dominating 8-game win streak as every point matters as the race for the playoffs is in full swing.
The Kodiaks had a slow start to the game as Lethbridge had a hard time finding a groove to get into which gave the Lightning time to obtain some momentum early on the gain an early lead. Once the Kodiaks were able to get the wheels turning they caught right back up to St. Mary's with no problem, surpassing them and holding the lead for the last bit of the quarter. Kodiaks #10 Kitawna Sparks found her spark in the 1st quarter putting up an impressive 8 points and 3 offensive rebounds to keep the Kodiaks ahead 26-16 headed into the 2nd quarter.
The Kodiaks continued to be strong in the 2nd quarter maintaining their lead and increasing the gap between them and the Lightning. St. Mary's made a big push late in the half to attempt to tighten up the score headed into the half as Lightning #13 Danya Osterling led the way for St. Mary's with 8 points to shoot even with the Kodiaks in the quarter at 20 points both ways but still trailed 46-36 to the Kodiaks at halftime.
St. Mary's looked to turn things around in the 2nd half as they attempted to gain some momentum to close in on the Kodiaks. Still, Lethbridge's tight defense was able to keep them at bay as Kodiaks Kitawna Sparks earned herself another 8 points in the 3rd quarter to continue to grow their lead over the Lightning giving them a comfortable 67-54 lead headed into the 4th.
Kodiaks #8 Tylee Leavitt was dominant in the O-zone on the 4th pushing the Kodiaks farther ahead as she grabbed 10 points to continue to thrust the Kodiaks forward to a dominating upset over the St. Mary's Lightning taking the game 93-69.
Player of The Game:
Lightning|#10 Maitlynn Wilde
Kodiaks|#11 Matlin Jacobs