MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Milwaukee Area Technical College women's basketball team had a hard time keeping up with Bryant & Stratton on Tuesday during its Black History Game in large part due to missed scoring opportunities and a failure to secure rebounds on the glass.

As a team, the Stormers were held to 32.8 percent (22-of-67) shooting from the field and were vastly outrebounded 59-40, including a 26-13 disparity in offensive rebounds. The combination of missed shots paired with a lackluster effort to secure extra possessions proved pivotal in the Bobcats' ability to claim a 68-57 road win over MATC.

"I felt coming into this game after Saturday's win that we would have had some momentum," Stormers head coach Arom Murrell said. "We just didn't do a good job finishing tonight and that's probably the difference of the game.

"Obviously the rebounding was an issue, but we had ample opportunity to finish and to score points, but we didn't do that."

The rebounding disparity was evident early on in the opening quarter. Bryant & Stratton totaled 17 rebounds, six of which were offensive rebounds, over the course of the first 10 minutes of play. It was a dozen more rebounds secured compared to MATC, who totaled just five rebounds throughout the quarter.

The creation of extra scoring opportunities afforded the Bobcats to take a 23-14 lead into the second quarter. Over the course of the second quarter, Bryant & Stratton was able to continue its presence on the glass, leaving them to take a 34-24 lead into the intermission.

Coming out of the halftime break, the Stormers had a difficult time containing Bryant & Stratton sophomore guard Trishena Brown, who already had 14 points at the half. In the third quarter alone, Brown totaled eight points and three assists. Her constant playmaking and ability to finish at the rim allowed her team to get up as much as 16 points in the third before taking a 13-point lead into the fourth.

Down 13 to begin the final quarter, the Stormers were never able to muster up enough defensive stops to get their deficit back to within single digits, leaving them to suffer an 11-point loss.

"I think the biggest stretch was midway through the third quarter when they got ahead by 16 points," Murrell said. "I was never overly concerned with them running away with it as long as we could score. For a while we were able to at least go bucket for bucket with them, but we couldn't get that crucial stop or get over the hump that changed the momentum and that's what hurt."

Brown undoubtedly showcased why she was the best player on the court. The second-year point guard nearly recorded a triple-double on the night after totaling a game-high 26 points, 16 rebounds (nine offensive) and eight assists.

"Brown is their playmaker, but we didn't support her well enough with helpside or a gap defense," Murrell said. "We said we'd live with her kicking out to her teammates for 3-pointers, but she kept getting to the paint. So, yeah, Brown did a number on us [tonight]."

Unlike Bryant & Stratton, Murrell wasn't able to get the same type of impact from his guard play. The Stormers' starting backcourt of sophomore Alexis Ayers and freshman Chloey Bynum combined for just 22 points on 25 percent shooting (6-of-24) from the field across 80 combined minutes on the floor.

According to coach Murrell, the lone bright spot in the evening was the performance of freshman reserve Mary-Kate Louissaint. The first-year forward recorded a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.

"If you ask me the only bright spot in the evening was [Mary-Kate] Louissaint," Murrell said. "She got a double-double and was active, but she didn't have any support [tonight]."

STAT BOOK
Louissaint tallied 10 points, 13 rebounds, four blocks and two steals to help pace the Stormers in defeat. Ayers added 14 points, six assists, five steals and four rebounds. Freshman Arlinda Roundtree finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, two steals and one block. Freshman Makayla Carney poured in 10 points, three steals and three rebounds. Bynum chipped in eight points, four assists, three rebounds and one steal.

UP NEXT
MATC (8-17) will host Kankakee Community College at 6 p.m. Thursday for its Sophomore Day.