The South Bend Clay Colonials suffered their biggest loss yet this season on Tuesday. They had to suffer through a rough 78-21 loss at the hands of Penn. While losing is never fun, South Bend Clay can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 350th, while Penn is ranked 71st).
When it comes to explaining why South Bend Clay lost, one person who can't be blamed is Maliya Freeman. Despite the final result, she scored ten points along with nine rebounds. Freeman has been hot recently, having posted eight or more rebounds the last seven times she's played.
Penn's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Karleisha Echols, who scored 14 points along with seven assists and seven steals. Echols is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last five games she's played. Another player making a difference was Lauren Walsh, who scored 16 points along with five steals.
South Bend Clay dropped their record down to 3-18 with that defeat, which was their tenth straight on the road. That rough patch could be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 28.7 points per game. As for Penn, they have been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 15-6 record this season.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. South Bend Clay will take on South Bend Career Academy at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. South Bend Career Academy comes in on a streak of failing to score more than 25 points in their last 13 games, a trend the team is of course eager to reverse. As for Penn, they will play host again and welcome NorthWood, where tip off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Hopefully NorthWood focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 17 last Saturday.
