Friday evening in Mallory Gymnasium, the Rhodes College Lynx played against the Sewanee Tigers. The Lynx were coming off a tough loss to Centre and looked to get back into the winning column as they started their stretch of four consecutive home games. What better way to start another winning streak than to beat your rivals at home?
Giana Vlahakos got Rhodes on the board first with a strong finish. Rhodes looked very comfortable as their ball movement led to wide-open shots that were nothing but net. In the second quarter, their defense held Sewanee to 8 points on 25% shooting from the field. Rhodes' defense and unselfishness on offense resulted in a big 46-23 lead by halftime. The two sophomores, Giana and
Avery Marsh were significant for the Lynx in the first two quarters. Giana was an absolute floor general; she scored 6 points, grabbed five rebounds, dished out four assists, and had two blocks. Avery was a scoring machine as she delivered four assists and 17 points; 10 came in the second quarter as she outscored all of the Tigers.
In the third and fourth quarters, Sewanee made the second half competitive. The Tigers fought back and were able to outscore the Lynx by five. However, it didn't matter because the Lynx were still getting their fair share of buckets to add to that big lead they had already built in the first half. The Lynx were the tougher and more disciplined team. They outrebounded their opponent by 14, turned them over 15 times, had six blocks, and finished the game shooting 50% from the field and 42% from three-point range. Rhodes won this game 80-64, and their leading scorer was
Avery Marsh, who scored 19 points and had six assists.
Giana Vlahakos finished with a double-double of 12 points and 15 rebounds.
Sunday, January 28, the Rhodes women's basketball team was in the Mallory Gymnasium, taking on the Centre Colonels. Last weekend, both teams were tied for second place in the SAA standings until Centre beat Rhodes. The Lynx looked to return the favor as a win would place them back into a tie for second place with Centre.
There was limited scoring in the first quarter because both teams were physically aggressive on defense. Neither team had easy opportunities to score as both teams were contesting every shot, sometimes leading to blocks and forcing each other to turn the ball over. Rhodes won the quarter as they scored 9 points on 21% field shooting, while Center scored five on 10% shooting. The Lynx came alive in the second quarter as they adjusted to the defensive pressure by slowing the game down and finding ways to get high-percentage layups. With their size advantage, this game plan was very effective, and it started sucking the defense into the paint, which gave their shooters space to hit wide-open threes. The Lynx were able to go into the half up 25-19.
Rhodes' defensive effort in the third quarter ultimately won them the game as they caused Centre to have two prolonged scoring droughts. The first drought was from 8:15 to 4:47, and the second was from 3:37 to 0:33. In each of those two droughts, Rhodes scored six points, propelling a commanding 10-point lead to end the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Lynx were outplayed by the Colonels. The Lynx could only make three field goals, but because they could get to the free-throw line, they were only outscored by three. Rhodes won the game 59-52. Their two leading scorers were
Avery Marsh with 20 points and
AC Milam with 10.
Rhodes finishes the weekend 2-0 and is back in Mallory Gymnasium next weekend as they take on the Berry College Vikings at 6 pm on Friday. Go Lynx!!!
