Monroe entered their contest against Porter Ridge on Wednesday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. The Monroe Redhawks took a hard 82-68 fall against the Porter Ridge Pirates. The Redhawks lost against the Pirates in their previous head to head back in January of 2024, too, but the margin this time around was much closer than the 62-19 score last time.
Despite the loss, Monroe saw an underclassman step up: freshman Janiyah Boyd went 10 of 23 en route to 30 points along with five assists and five boards. That was a full 44.1% of Monroe's points, marking the fourth time in a row she's posted more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Sade Robinson, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and ten rebounds.
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Even though they lost, Monroe smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in six consecutive games.
Leading Porter Ridge to victory were Kali Williams and Ashanti Taylor. Williams went 13 of 16 on her way to 29 points along with eight assists and eight boards, while Taylor had 37 points in addition to eight rebounds and four steals. The match was Taylor's 19th in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Molly Malcolm, who put up 11 points and six steals.
Monroe's defeat ended a four-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 6-2. As for Porter Ridge, they are on a roll lately: they've won ten of their last 12 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 13-3 record this season.
Monroe and Porter Ridge should be looking forward to their upcoming games as both have a sizable advantage in the MaxPreps North Carolina Rankings. Monroe (ranked 126th) will meet Anson (ranked 478th) at 6:00 p.m. on January 16th. Monroe is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 63.9 points per game this season. Meanwhile, Porter Ridge (ranked 58th) will meet Cuthbertson (ranked 367th) at 6:00 p.m. on January 17th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
