Mesa women’s basketball took care of business against the San Diego City College Knights in a comfortable 71-55 win, cementing a season sweep against City College. However, comfortable was the last word on anyone’s mind—23 seconds into the game.
An eerie silence fell over the gymnasium as starting guard Keila Teruya went down with an apparent ankle injury – one that would force her to be carted off and sent to the emergency room.
Yet rather than deter the team, it seemed to motivate the Olympians even more: Starting guard Niki Madgedi went on a scoring rampage.
“We all as a collective wanted to play for our teammate that went down, I think that fueled us,” Madgedi said.“Our team is like a sisterhood, and to see her go down made us want to get the win for Keila,” she continued.
Offensively, the Olympians looked lively as ever. Quick combination passes and energetic cuts to the basket allowed open looks for Madgedi to go 4-4 from the 3-point line in the first half. She would emphatically close out both the first and second quarter with buzzer-beating threes that would help total 21 first-half points – exactly half the Olympians’ total points as they led 42-27 heading into the locker room.
Coming out of the second half with a 42-27 lead, the Olympians continued to score at will, but it was on the other end of the floor where Mesa dominated. Guard Gwen Morris-Lundstrom made a come-from-behind transition block along with three steals.
“If the offense isn’t going, defense is the number one thing for us as a team,” Morris-Lundstrom said.
Madgedi gave her teammates all the flowers for her career-high 34-point night.
“Collectively we played well as a group, they find me really well so I have to credit my teammates for my performance,” Madgedi said.
Coach Linday Samaniego reported that Teruya’s x-ray came back negative. A visit to an orthopedic doctor will rule out any possible tears.
“It’s always tough seeing one of your family members go down like that in such pain,” Samaniego said. “I think it maybe gave them an extra boost to win for her,” she continued.
Mesa looks to carry the momentum into Friday night’s game, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. against Grossmont.
