Preview: Notre Dame Prep Saints vs. Horizon Huskies
Notre Dame Prep has enjoyed a two-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will take on the Horizon Huskies at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. One thing working in Notre Dame Prep's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last ten contests.
In what's become a running theme this season, Notre Dame Prep gave their fans yet another huge win on Tuesday. They breezed by Chaparral at home to the tune of 65-37. Notre Dame Prep pushed the score to 50-29 by the end of the third, a deficit the Firebirds had little chance of recovering from.
Notre Dame Prep's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Ava Pautz, who almost dropped a double-double on 21 points and nine rebounds. Pautz has been hot recently, having posted 20 or more points the last four times she's played. Ayla Keefe was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on ten points and 11 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Horizon waltzed into their match on Tuesday with two straight wins but they left with three. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past Cactus Shadows 56-54.
Noel Gallegos had an outrageously good game as she scored 17 points along with five steals. Another player making a difference was Peyton Schiltz, who scored ten points along with eight rebounds and three steals.
Notre Dame Prep pushed their record up to 22-3 with that victory, which was their seventh straight at home. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 72.3 points per game. As for Horizon, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a nice bump to their 14-8 record this season.
Thursday's contest will pit two of the most dominant guards against one another: Pautz and Mia Brown. Pautz has been dynamite this season: she has averaged 17.2 points and 2 steals. For her part, Brown has averaged 9.2 points, 1.9 steals, and 4.3 assists.
Everything came up roses for Notre Dame Prep against the Huskies when the teams last played two weeks ago as the team secured a 61-25 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Notre Dame Prep since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
