The Yuma Outlaws will face off against the McClave Cardinals at 3:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are still undefeated (Yuma has three wins , while McClave has ten dating back to last season).
Yuma is headed into the contest after thoroughly thrashing The Vanguard School: they outscored them in every quarter. The Outlaws blew past the Coursers 53-28 on Saturday. The matchup was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Outlaws had established a 23-point advantage.
Yuma's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Taryn Sheffield, who shot 41% from the field en route to 19 points along with eight rebounds and four steals, and Carolina Ross, who posted 14 points and eight steals. What's more, Sheffield posted two blocks, the most she's had since back in January. The team also got some help courtesy of Berkley Nighswonger, who went 5-for-9 to rack up 10 points.
Yuma was working as a unit and finished the game with 14 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as The Vanguard School only posted seven.
Meanwhile, McClave had to kick off their season on the road on Saturday, but they showed no ill effects. They strolled past Idalia with points to spare, taking the game 50-31.
McClave's win came from a few key players Yuma will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Abrielle Gomez, who shot 50% from the field on her way to 16 points and three steals. She has been hot for a while, having posted two or more steals the last 29 times she's played. Addison Vallejos was another key player, almost dropping a double-double with 11 points and nine steals.
Yuma's victory bumped their record up to 3-0. As for McClave, their win bumped their record up to 1-0.
Yuma lost to McClave at home by a decisive 50-32 margin in their previous meeting back in December of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Gomez, who went 6-for-13 en route to 15 points in addition to seven steals and six boards. Now that the Outlaws know the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
