MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Led by a brilliant offensive display by sophomore Alexis Ayers, the Milwaukee Area Technical College women's basketball team finally picked up its first home win of the 2024-25 season against Wilbur Wright College Thursday evening.

Ayers set a new career-high in points (38) on 46.9 percent shooting from the field (15-of-32) during the Stormers' dominant 96-41 win over the Rams. The 38-point performance by Ayers marked the second time this month that she set a new career high in points, which she previously set on Dec. 3 against McHenry when she totaled 36 points.

"I started off a little rusty, but as soon as I got my confidence back, I felt like I was knocking down my shots," Ayers said of her career night. "Overall our defense was good tonight. We made sure to keep running and get back when we got rebounds and steals."

The 51-point blowout win at home marked the largest margin of victory for the Stormers this season and helped them move to 1-2 at home.

"What impressed me most about the win was that they played with their foot on the gas the whole game," MATC head women's basketball coach Arom Murrell said. "Even tired, they were disciplined in the execution of the plays, communicating on defense, and they got out and ran the floor. There wasn't much I could complain about, it was a complete team effort."

The Stormers executed well from the opening tip. In the first quarter, they held Wilbur Wright to just 18.8 percent from the field (3-of-16) and forced eight turnovers, which directly led to 10 points in favor of the home team. MATC wound up taking a 18-6 lead into the second before taking a commanding 43-16 halftime lead.

Much like the first half, MATC came out of the halftime break smelling blood in the water. They outscored the Rams 28-12 in the third quarter alone, mostly due to excellent shooting by Ayers. The second-year guard finished the quarter red-hot, going 5-of-7 from the field and 1-for-1 from the stripe to help tally a dozen points.

"I was just feeling excited and I was really having fun," Ayers said of her third quarter performance. "I wanted to make sure my teammates were scoring as well. So it was about looking around the court and just making the right shots and decisions."

Heading into the fourth quarter leading 71-28, the Stormers were able to coast to their first home win of the season to improve to 6-10 overall.

As a team, MATC shot 50.6 percent (43-of-85) against the Hawks while totaling 72 points in the paint. Additionally, they also recorded 61 defensive stops, 27 second effort points, and 27 points off turnovers.

With the help of freshman guard Makayla Carney's monster night on the glass – 21 rebounds (13 offensive rebounds) – the Stormers were also able to outrebound their opponent 68-40.

"Carney is a rebounding machine," Murrell said of his talented guard. "She's not the biggest girl on the floor, but she's one of the strongest and most active girls. She puts in the work and I'm proud of her."

MATC got another major contribution from its 5'8" freshman Arlinda Roundtree. The first-year guard poured in 25 points and eight rebounds on 52.2 percent shooting (12-of-23).

"Roundtree is very athletic and so it's easy for her to have a fast first-step," Ayers said of her freshman teammate. "She's very good at defense, using her long arms and so it's good to have her on the court with me because she makes things easier for me."

STAT BOOK
Ayers poured in a career-high 38 points to go along with seven rebounds, five steals and four assists to help lead the Stormers. Roundtree added 25 points, eight rebounds, three steals and three assists. Carney recorded a monster double-double, totaling 12 points, 21 rebounds (13 offensive rebounds), five blocks and three steals. Freshman Chloey Bynum had 13 points, four rebounds and a pair of assists.

UP NEXT
MATC (6-10) will take some time off before resuming action against Triton College at 6 p.m. on Jan. 9 at home.