Trojan girls grind out home win vs. Bloodhounds

Fairfield girls? basketball coach Mick Flattery will take an ugly win over a pretty loss any day of the week.

As was the case Friday, it wasn?t always pretty, but the Trojan girls kept pace with the Bloodhounds in the first half prior to pulling away in the third quarter to take a 32-25 home win against Fort Madison.

The win was the first for Fairfield in Southeast Conference action this season.

?I thought the girls played really hard,? Flattery said. ?We?re getting there. It?s a work in progress, and I?m really happy for the girls because this was not an easy win.?

In the slow-paced, low-scoring affair, Fairfield did just about everything a little better than the Bloodhounds. Fairfield connected on more shots in fewer attempts (11-for-30 compared to 9-for-35), out-rebounded Fort Madison by six (30 to 24) and had a plus-one turnover ratio (15 to 16).

Brittany Kurtz was active in the paint early for Fairfield, scoring four of the Trojans? first five points, but as a team Fort Madison got off to the better shooting start and lead 10-7 after the first period.

The Bloodhounds then kicked off the second quarter on a 5-2 run to go up 15-9 before a nearly five-minute scoreless drought kept them off the scoreboard the rest of the half. Serena Ward hit a 3 and Sidney Baumann made three free throws to knot the score up at 15-all at halftime.

Fort Madison?s scoreless run continued into the second half as the team went more than three minutes before scoring its first points of the half. Fairfield capitalized by turning a 10-3 run into a 25-18 lead after three quarters.

?It?s the type of game where they?re playing possession by possession, and [Fort Madison] wants to get you down to the fourth quarter and still be in it, and then get you down to one or two possessions and still be in it,? Flattery said. ?And they had us there for a while until we were able to step up and make some plays defensively and turn that into offense.?

Baumann paced the Trojan offense with nine points, attacking the basket aggressively throughout the contest, and made the Bloodhounds pay by hitting 7-of-12 shots from the free throw line.

?Sidney continues to find ways to score,? said Flattery. ?A few weeks ago she was just a perimeter shooter, and now she?s going to the free throw line 12 times. I think the development of her just as a scorer continues to grow right in front of us, which is great.?

Ward scored nine points and Taylor Neil had eight. Erin Thompson dished out two assists.

Defensively, sophomore Hanna Greiner recorded three steals and junior Kurtz blocked two shots. Kurtz had a team-high seven rebounds, while Greiner, Ward and Miranda Metcalf had five boards each.

The Trojans are now one win short of a .500 record, at 5-6, and will be looking to even their record for the first time in 2011-12 with a home game vs. Eddyville-Blakesburg Tuesday.

?It?s great to start this homestand out with a win, obviously, and hopefully we can get it back up to .500 on Tuesday,? Flattery said. ?Eddyville?s going to be a very physical team. They beat us pretty handily last year, so we?re going to have to be ready to go.?

FAIRFIELD ? Baumann 1-4 7-12 9, Ward 4-10 0-0 9, Neil 3-6 2-3 8, Kurtz 2-4 0-2 4, Metcalf 1-4 0-3 2, Greiner 0-1 0-0 0, Lamb 0-0 0-0 0, Thompson 0-1 0-2 0, Totals 11-30 9-22 32

3-point goals ? Ward 1. Rebounds ? Kurtz 7, Greiner 5, Metcalf 5, Ward 5. Assists ? Thompson 2. Steals ? Greiner 3, Neil 2, Ward 2. Blocks ? Kurtz 2, Greiner 1