The Lady Saints women’s basketball team kicked off their 2024-25 season on Friday with a road trip to La Junta, Colorado with Seward County taking on the Otero Rattlers in day one of the Otero Classic where SCCC caught fire from beyond the arc early and never looked back as they bulldozed past the Rattlers 70-38.
Seward County opened the game with back-to-back triples from Avery Marchino in her collegiate debut while Allie Myers cashed in another three to propel the Lady Saints to a 10-2 start over Otero. Maddy Kincaide entered in off the bench to nail another long-range bomb with under two minutes to go and a pair at the free throw line from Kylee Hunt put Seward County up by eight after the first ten minutes for a 21-13 lead.
Kezia Grant-Bobb pushed the Lady Saints lead into double figures less than a minute into the second quarter as the sophomore forward took away the ball from the Rattlers and made her way down the court for an easy layup to make it 25-13. Hunt quickly found Ari Gordon in the paint for another quick score and later Trinitee Holmes crashed the offensive glass for a putback score plus the foul to make it a 31-16 SCCC lead. Homes struck again before the halftime break with a mid-range jumper from the elbow to keep momentum in favor of Seward County who allowed only five points in the second to go into the break up 36-18.
The Lady Saints kept their foot on the gas to open the third quarter with Myers using her long wingspan to snatch away a steal for a fastbreak layup that was followed by Marchino knocking down another triple with five minutes left to move ahead of Otero 45-21. From their however the Rattlers flashed their fangs briefly as a short run from Otero stopped the offensive onslaught by Seward County momentarily but three from corner from Marchino ended the third on a high note with SCCC’s lead staying strong at 48-31.
Threes kept raining down from the Lady Saints with Biyyanah Ellis cashing in to start the fourth to extend the lead to 54-31 while Sanaa Dennis stepped in to take a charge and create a defensive stop for Seward County. With three minutes left on the board Holmes drove the baseline straight to the rim where she powered through contact for another and-one opportunity that helped finalize the score with the Lady Saints steamrolling past the Rattlers 70-38 to start the season off strong.
Seward County now begins the 2024-25 season 1-0 overall and will be back in action in less than twenty-four hours when they face Eastern Wyoming on day two of the Otero Classic. The game airs on B107.5 with pregame at 1:45 central time.