Preview: Prestonwood Christian Lions vs. Ursuline Academy Bears
Two dominant guards in Londyn Oliphant and Madelyne Davis are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Prestonwood Christian Lions will head out on the road to challenge the Ursuline Academy Bears at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Prestonwood Christian knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past four contests -- so hopefully Ursuline Academy likes a good challenge.
Last Friday, Prestonwood Christian strolled past Parish Episcopal with points to spare, taking the game 56-37. Prestonwood Christian pushed the score to 45-22 by the end of the third, a deficit Parish Episcopal cut but never quite recovered from.
Prestonwood Christian's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Oliphant, who scored 14 points along with eight rebounds and seven steals. Oliphant has been hot recently, having posted four or more steals the last three times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Allie Swindell, who almost dropped a double-double on 16 points and nine rebounds.
Meanwhile, Ursuline Academy unfortunately witnessed the end of their five-game winning streak on Tuesday. They took a 62-55 hit to the loss column at the hands of Parish Episcopal. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
Despite their defeat, Ursuline Academy saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Lily Smith, who scored 14 points, was perhaps the best of all. Another player making a difference was Molly Davis, who scored 11 points.
Prestonwood Christian's victory bumped their record up to 27-6. As for Ursuline Academy, their loss dropped their record down to 19-9.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Prestonwood Christian have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 34.4 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Ursuline Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 27.8 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Prestonwood Christian came up short against Ursuline Academy in their previous matchup back in January, falling 62-58. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Davis, who scored 26 points along with seven assists and six rebounds. Now that Prestonwood Christian knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
