Women's basketball lets lead slip away in loss to Waubonsee

An early injury, a slow third quarter and foul trouble ultimately proved too much for the Wolves to overcome as Joliet Junior College women's basketball fell to Waubonsee Community College, 65-60, on Thursday.

The Wolves (3-2) entered the game with just six players available. Within the opening minutes, freshman Keira Hunt suffered an injury on an attempt at an offensive rebound.

"We tell them, 'Yeah, we have low numbers but the next player just has to step up,'" Wolves coach Shaun Sanderson said. "For a young team to see someone go down like that early, now you've got to try to get them back mentally, to let them know that they've got this. But (Keira) is going to be okay. I thought she was going to come back but the ankle swelled up pretty good on her."

Still, the Wolves didn't seem bothered as they dominated the first two quarters to lead at the half, 35-28. 

Then the troubles started. 

The Wolves were outscored in the third, 20-9, as the Chiefs rallied for the lead. To make matters worse, sophomore Kiyah Robertson fouled out late in the game, forcing the Wolves to play with just four players in the final minutes.

"Last week, we fouled down to three players," said Sanderson. "So we still have to execute. We played a 2-2 Zone and got a couple stops -- even took the lead! We practice a lot of times at a disadvantage so its a mindset.

"This was a very winnable game. I thought we were undisciplined and that's what got us in trouble. You can even see down the stretch there when we're playing four players, the energy was there but where was that energy earlier."

Joyce Tua-Link finished with 20 points to lead the Wolves, picking up some of the slack after Robertson left the game.

"I feel like we already have a small team as is," she said. "We work on stuff like this under pressure ...  I think it just comes. We're strong mentally."

Robertson finished the game with 19 points, her highest scoring output since the season opener on Nov. 2 when she scored 32. Demi page added 10 points.

Next up, the Wolves host Governors State (JV) on Saturday at 1 p.m.

"They have what it takes to win so we'll bounce back," said Sanderson.