The Lady Rams Kick Off 2024
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By Sara Smith
The Lady Rams celebrated the New Year with a match up against the 9-1 La Plata Lady Bulldogs on Tuesday, January 2nd. The Lady Rams got off to a rip-roaring start and gained the lead early, 14-7 at the end of the first quarter. However, the Lady Bulldogs fought back in the second quarter and both teams went into halftime all knotted up at 26 apiece.
The Lady Bulldogs dictated the pace of the game, and played with a speed that the Lady Rams couldn’t match. La Plata built a lead in the third and fourth quarters and came away with a nine point victory, 45-54. Given that the Lady Bulldogs were +9 in the turnover category, and +13 in offensive rebounds, the nine-point margin is a testament to the shooting prowess of the Lady Rams. They made 44% of their shots from the field, as opposed to the Lady Bulldogs 36%.
Claudia Dixon went 9 for 11, an incredible 82% from the field. She also added two free throws to her total to account for 20 of the Lady Rams points. She also led the team in rebounds with 11. Sidney Aeschliman added 13 points to the board for the Lady Rams, 11 of which were from free throws. She also had three rebounds and four assists. Raina Small had eight points, Kelsey Tallman contributed two points, and Hannah Farris came off the bench to add two points as well. The Lady Rams had one steal on the night, courtesy of Taylor Roberts.
Two days later, on January 4th, the Lady Rams met the 2-9 Putnam County Lady Midgets. The last time the Schuyler Lady Rams lost to this opponent was in 2018. With and overall record of 21 wins to only 8 losses against the Lady Midgets, it would be fair to say that they had every reason to be confident in their ability to extend the current win streak of six, to a win streak of seven.
Once again the Lady Rams came out of the gate strong, ending the first quarter with a nine-point lead, 13-4. The Lady Rams outscored the Lady Midgets in the second quarter as well, the score at halftime was 27-10. The Lady Midgets rallied in the third quarter and decreased the Lady Rams lead from 17 points to 11 with a score of 35-24. However, the Lady Rams kept their foot on the pedal and regained ground in the fourth quarter to end the game with a 16-point lead, 53-37.
As in the previous game, the Lady Rams shot well from the field, 42%. Raina Small topped the scoring with 24 points, 15 of which were from 3-pointers. She also had six rebounds, three assists, and one steal. Sidney Aeschliman had 15 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and four steals. Claudia Dixon came away with nine points, six rebounds, two assists, and one steal. Kelsey Tallman added three points, three rebounds, a team-leading (and impressive) seven assists, and two steals. Florence Luscher came off the bench to add two points to the scoreboard, and she led the team in rebounds with nine. Taylor Roberts had five rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Both of these opponents are in the same district as the Lady Rams, so these were good contests to have. Who knows, maybe they will see either one, or both, of these opponents in February during the district tournament.
