Broncbusters win conference opener

Garden City, KS-For the most part, Garden City looked sharp in its first conference game of the season. 

Sierra Driessen poured in 29 points, Antonicia Moultrie posted a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds, and the Broncbusters raced past Colby, 76-58 Saturday afternoon at Conestoga Arena.  

"I just felt like we had some good momentum while we were on the floor," Driessen said afterwards. "This was a very big game because it was the first conference game. So, I felt like we needed this win to start out on a positive note." 

Opal Hardy chipped in 10 points in 19 minutes off the bench for Garden City, which improved to 6-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play. The Broncbusters shot 42 percent from the field and outrebounded the Trojans, 33-32. They scored 27 points off 28 Colby turnovers. 

"There were times in this game that we just had a lack of intensity and a lack of maturity, Head Coach, Greg Franklin said.  

That wasn't the case in the first half when Garden City outpaced Colby, 46-17 and shot 47 percent from the floor. In fact, Franklin's bunch scored the first 14 points of the game before Stella McIntyre's free throw with 3:18 to go in the first finally got the Trojans on the board. Garden City was up 23-5 after one and took a 20-point lead after Driessen buried two freebies early in the second period. 

But Garden City made some youthful mistakes in the second half allowing Colby to make things interesting.  

"We have to keep our momentum because sometimes we get down on ourselves," Driessen explained.

The freshman's two free throws gave Garden City's its largest lead of the day, 50-17 with 9:39 to go in the third. But the Trojans stormed back, using a 23-8 run to end the quarter to cut the lead to 18. Then, in the final period, Sofia Lopez made a driving layup, Victoria Moreno drained two free throws, and Noella Biduaya rattled home a midrange jumper, trimming Garden City's advantage to 62-50 with 6:22 to play.  

"We lost that lead because of a lack of maturity," Franklin said. "These players have to be able to take constructive criticism, and then you have to move on." 

The Trojans made it an 11-point game when Sophie Bennett beat Ana Ramos Pires to the basket for a three-point play to make it 64-53 with 4:59 on the clock. It was Pires's fifth foul.  

"In the second half, we didn't make it about the team," Franklin stated. "It was about individuals."

That's as close as Colby got the rest of the way. Hardy banked in a six-footer in the paint, and Stevi Yancy swished a triple from the wing, pushing the lead back to 16.  

Perez scored 10 points in 22 minutes off the bench for Colby, which dropped to 3-2 overall and 0-1 in the Jayhawk. As a team, the Trojans shot just 39 percent from the floor.