Basketball Preview: Wellington Dukes vs. Columbia Raiders
The Wellington Dukes will square off against the Columbia Raiders at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Wellington's defense has only allowed 28.5 points per game this season, so Columbia's offense will have their work cut out for them.
Wellington is headed into the matchup having just posted their closest win since January 24th on Wednesday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 41-38 victory over Oberlin. The score was all tied up 21-21 at the break, but the Dukes were the better team in the second half.
It was another big night for Brooke Lehmkuhl, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 13 rebounds. That makes it four consecutive games in which she has scored at least a third of Wellington's points. Another player making a difference was Mallory Pickering, who posted six points along with ten rebounds and three steals.
Wellington was working as a unit and finished the game with 12 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Columbia, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Tuesday. They took their contest on Wednesday with ease, bagging a 61-17 win over Black River. The match was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 40-5.
Columbia found their leader in freshman Natalie Miller, who went 7 for 15 en route to 16 points plus seven steals and five rebounds. Kaitlyn Miller was another key player, scoring 13 points plus six rebounds and five assists.
Wellington's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 3-1. Those good results were due in large part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 25.7 points per game. As for Columbia, they now have a winning record of 2-1.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Wellington has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 29.2 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Columbia struggles in that department as they've been averaging 35.3. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Wellington was taken down by Columbia 53-24 when the teams last played back in January. Can Wellington avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
