The Meadow Bridge Wildcats will head out on the road to challenge the Independence Patriots at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Meadow Bridge has struggled recently with three losses in a row, while the Patriots will arrive with four straight victories.
Meadow Bridge struggled with assists on Friday (the Raiders had 12 more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Meadow Bridge was dealt a 71-29 defeat at the hands of the Raiders. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Meadow Bridge in their matchups with the Raiders: they've now lost five in a row.
Despite the loss, Meadow Bridge had strong showings from Kierston Rozell, who scored 13 points along with seven rebounds and three blocks, and Lily Hayes, who scored eight points. That was a full 44.8% of Meadow Bridge's points, marking the fourth time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points.
Meanwhile, Independence strolled past the Tigers with points to spare on Friday, taking the game 54-36.
Lacey Goodson and Harmony Mills were among the main playmakers for Independence as the former dropped a double-double on 18 points and ten rebounds and the latter dropped a double-double on 19 points and 11 rebounds. Mills has been hot recently, having posted ten or more rebounds the last 13 times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Kamryn Wooten, who scored three points along with 11 rebounds and two steals.
Meadow Bridge's loss dropped their record down to 9-7. As for Independence, their win was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 14-2.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Meadow Bridge have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 27.6 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Independence struggles in that department as they've been averaging 37.4 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Meadow Bridge took a serious blow against the Patriots in their previous matchup back in January, falling 59-31. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Mills, who dropped a double-double on 23 points and ten rebounds. Now that Meadow Bridge knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
