The Alexander Cougars were the 45-35 winner over the East Paulding Raiders when they last played one another back in February of 2023, but their luck changed this time around. Alexander fell just short of East Paulding by a score of 42-40. Alexander has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Alexander's loss on Tuesday came despite strong showings from Meghan Ritchie and Isabella Italiano. Ritchie dropped a double-double on ten points and 11 rebounds, while Italiano scored 14 points along with six assists and three steals. The match was Italiano's third in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Nimah Ibidunni, who scored eight points along with ten rebounds.
Even though they lost, Alexander were smashing the offensive glass and finished the game with 23 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
Alexander's loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 8-7. As for East Paulding, their win bumped their record up to 3-12.
Alexander will look to defend their home court on Thursday against Langston Hughes at 6:00 p.m. Langston Hughes is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last 11 games. As for East Paulding, they will head out on the road to face off against South Paulding at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. Hopefully South Paulding focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 34 on Tuesday.
