Poor start, rebounds once again doom FSCC women

It's as if a CD was skipping over and over and over again.

Fort Scott Community College's women had the same problems against Coffeyville at Arnold Arena Wednesday night as they'd had during the five-game losing streak they'd snapped last Saturday when they defeated Kansas City Kansas.

Monday night, the Greyhounds were able to win their second straight game, a 70-65 decision at Neosho County.

But Wednesday night, they took a step back. A poor first 10 minutes and lack of rebounding -- the same woes that had plagued them before -- put the Greyhounds into a deep hole early and Coffeyville took advantage to take a 72-51 Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division victory.

"We've tried everything," Fort Scott head coach Diana Couch said. "We've gone to road games extra early. We make them break a sweat and go up and down the floor. We've tried to lighten the mood. We've tried to be serious. It's up to them; it really is.

"I went into the locker room at halftime. I just showed them a couple of stats and a different team came out."

At one point in the first half, Coffeyville (7-4 East, 17-6 overall) led 32-9. Only by scoring 8 of the last 11 of the half were the 'Hounds (3-7, 11-11) even able to be within 17 at the break.

But the sure sign of trouble was Coffeyville's first couple of possessions of the game. The Red Ravens had at least 4 offensive rebounds on each one and had a 12-4 rebounding advantage after only six minutes.

"Rebounds: That was the key to the game," Couch said. "That and to stay within 10 (at halftime) -- those were our two goals and what do we do? We get outrebounded and go into the half down 17. Again, we played them well in the second half. I don't know what it is. I've tried everything."

Even new uniforms didn't seem to help, so the 'Hounds switched back to their old ones at halftime.

Britnee Foster and Erin Boyd-Redmond scored 13 points each to lead Coffeyville. Brittany Demery had 13 points and 13 rebounds for Fort Scott. Valencia Kelly and Shadara Hampton each added 12 points.

Both teams shot 33 percent from the field but Coffeyville hit 11 3-point shots to just 2 for the 'Hounds.

COFFEYVILLE: Boyd-Redmond 4-12 2-3 13, Rolls 1-3 3-4 6, Macaronas 1-2 0-0 3, Longstaff 3-9 0-0 9, K.Smith 1-7 5-6 7, Primo 3-7 0-2 7, Hileman 0-3 0-0 0, A.Smith 4-7 0-1 9, Cannon 1-6 0-0 2, Foster 4-12 4-4 13, Gibson 1-1 1-2 3. TOTALS: 23-69 15-22 72.

FORT SCOTT: Bloodworth 1-4 0-0 2, Teich 1-5 0-0 3, Hampton 3-10 5-6 12, Mattox 1-3 1-2 3, Demery 4-10 5-5 13, Kelly 6-15 0-0 12, Okoronkow 0-2 0-0 0, Jackson 1-2 4-5 6. TOTALS: 17-51 15-18 51.

Halftime: Coffeyville, 34-17.

Three-point field goals: Coffeyville 11-25 (Boyd-Redmond 3-6, Longstaff 3-7, Macaronas 1-1, A.Smith 1-1, Rolls 1-2, Primo 1-2, Foster 1-5, K.Smith 0-1), Fort Scott 2-17 (Teich 1-5, Hampton 1-6, Demery 0-1, Kelly 0-5).

Total fouls: Coffeyville 15, Fort Scott 18 . Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: Fort Scott coach Couch.

Rebounds: Coffeyville 49 (Foster 14), Fort Scott 36 (Demery 13), Assists: Coffeyville 9 (Boyd-Redmond 3, Foster 3), Fort Scott 9 (Hampton 6). Turnovers: Coffeyville 11, Fort Scott 19. Steals: Coffeyville 10 (3 with 2 each), Fort Scott 5 (Hampton 2, Kelly 2). Blocked shots: Coffeyville none, Fort Scott 2 (Demery, Kelly).