Lady Cardinals too strong for Forest Park

By MATT KING\Daily Journal Sports Writer

PARK HILLS - The Mineral Area College women's basketball team went to battle with a roster of six on Tuesday against a Forest Park squad equally depleted by injuries. The Lady Cardinals proved to be superior in talent and stamina with a dominant 73-37 victory at home.

MAC (11-10) never trailed in the contest and forced 26 turnovers on defense, converting most of them into easy transition baskets. The Lady Cardinals controlled the tempo throughout and were able to score effectively both on the run and in a half-court offense.

A pair of Mineral Area sophomores posted double-doubles to highlight a strong performance on the boards as well. Robin Sane led all players with 26 points and 14 rebounds, while Alycea Wallace chipped 16 points and 12 rebounds. Freshman Erica Anderson also contributed 16 points in the win.

Active pressure defense helped the Lady Cardinals open the contest with an 8-0 scoring run. After converting a quick entry pass from Anna Brisso for two points, Sane capped the early rally with a transition layup.

Forest Park (4-18) drew to within five on a basket by Tierra Baldwin, but she would leave the game later in the first half with an ankle injury, limiting her club to just six available players.

From there, MAC proceeded to gradually widen its lead. Wallace stole an errant pass and scored following two straight three-pointers by Erica Hankins and Sane to make the score 20-9. Hankins connected for three triples off the bench for the Lady Cardinals.

Tamara Black scored a game-high 11 points for the Lady Highlanders, including a long three-pointer late in the half, but the Lady Cardinals turned up the intensity to eliminate any chance of a close game.

Wallace and Anderson made clean steals on back-to-back Forest Park possessions, and turned them into layups to create 17-point margin. MAC entered halftime with a 39-24 lead.

Mineral Area opened the second half on a 11-1 run with six of those points leaving the hands of Wallace. Sane also continued to have her way inside with two quick field goals, just before Brisso drilled a long baseline jumper during a big 16-0 scoring streak to extend the lead to 60-29.

Fatigue was evident on the faces of the Lady Highlanders who scored just 13 points during the entire half, including just two baskets over a 15-minute span. The Lady Cardinals enjoyed their largest lead of the night at 68-39 with 4:35 remaining.

Forest Park had a sizable advantage in free throw attempts, but added to its troubles by making just 9-22 at the line. MAC shot nine free throws in the game, hitting only four.

The Lady Cardinals will play another MCCAC conference foe on Saturday, when they host the Meramec Lady Magic at 5 p.m. That contest will start a double-header with the men's game beginning at 7 p.m.

Forest Park - 24 13 - 37

Mineral Area - 39 34 - 73

SCORING:

Forest Park - T Black 11, T Jones 8, C Jones 7, K Smith 6, T Baldwin 3, C Pratt 2.

3-pointers - T Jones 1, T Black 1.

Mineral Area - R Sane 26, A Wallace 16, E Anderson 16, E Hankins 9, A Brisso 4, M Pollard 2.

3-pointers - E Hankins 3, R Sane 1, E Anderson 1.