Central is 0-10 against the Patriots since December of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. Both teams will face off at 6:30 p.m. on February 2nd without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Central has three straight wins, the Patriots have three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Even though Central has not done well against the Panthers recently (they were 0-9 in their previous nine matchups), they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. Central secured a 39-33 W over the Panthers.
Central relied on the efforts of Lily Mathews, who scored 16 points along with eight rebounds and three blocks, and Lakin Mathews, who scored 17 points. That makes it three consecutive games in which Mathews has scored at least a third of Central's points.
Meanwhile, Pace suffered a tough 55-33 defeat at the hands of the Wildcats on Tuesday. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Pace in their matchups with the Wildcats: they've now lost four in a row.
Central's win bumped their record up to 13-9. As for Pace, their loss dropped their record down to 16-7.
Central took a serious blow against the Patriots in their previous matchup back in January, falling 56-15. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Pace's Aisley Shields, who scored 14 points along with eight assists and six rebounds. Now that Central knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
