Preview: Maiden Blue Devils vs. Bandys Trojans
Maiden is on a five-game streak of home wins, while Bandys is on a four-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Maiden Blue Devils will take on the Bandys Trojans at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
In what's become a running theme this season, Maiden gave their fans yet another huge victory on Tuesday. They blew past Bunker Hill 74-41 at home. The match was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point Maiden had established a 31 point advantage.
Maiden found their leader in underclassman Khiara Culliver, who dropped a double-double on 32 points and 11 rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Culliver has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Willow Bass, who scored 12 points along with two steals.
Even though Bandys has not done well against Newton-Conover recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. Bandys took down Newton-Conover 47-30.
Bandys' win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Lexi Vaughan, who scored 14 points along with two steals. Rachel Anderson was another key contributor, scoring 12 points along with three steals.
Maiden has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won nine of their last ten contests, which provided a massive bump to their 12-8 record this season. As for Bandys, their victory bumped their record up to 12-9.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Maiden have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 31.8 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Bandys 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.
Maiden strolled past Bandys in their previous matchup back in January by a score of 59-44. Does Maiden have another victory up their sleeve, or will Bandys turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
