The St. Andrew's Episcopal Lions will challenge the Bullis Bulldogs at 5:45 p.m. on Tuesday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: St. Andrew's Episcopal has struggled recently with five defeats in a row, while Bullis will arrive with five straight wins.
Last Thursday, St. Andrew's Episcopal ended up a good deal behind Sidwell Friends and lost 54-37. While losing is never fun, the Lions can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 64th in Maryland, while the Quakers are ranked third in District of Columbia).
St. Andrew's Episcopal's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Safa Al-Uqdah Robinson, who went 7 for 16 en route to 16 points and seven boards, and Anna Beth Tsai-Turton, who went 6 of 10 on her way to 13 points and six rebounds.
Meanwhile, Bullis got the win against Maret on Thursday by a conclusive 76-51. The Bulldogs have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six matchups by 22 points or more this season.
Bullis' win came from a few key players St. Andrew's Episcopal will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Ivanna Manyacka, who dropped a double-double on 23 points and 12 rebounds. She is on a roll when it comes to boards, as she's now pulled down nine or more in the last five games she's played. Another player making a difference was Meghan Yarnevich, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 15 rebounds.
Bullis smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 21 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive rebounds in 15 consecutive contests.
Bullis is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 14-6 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 69.7 points per game. As for St. Andrew's Episcopal, their defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 6-11.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: St. Andrew's Episcopal has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 31.9 boards per game. However, it's not like Bullis struggles in that department as they've been averaging 40.2 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
St. Andrew's Episcopal took a serious blow against Bullis in their previous meeting back in January, falling 82-24. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Manyacka, who almost dropped a double-double on 19 points and nine boards. Now that St. Andrew's Episcopal knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
