Three Rivers couldn't ask for a better first half of the women's college basketball season as they'll go into their Christmas break at a perfect 15-0 thus far, ranked fourth in the nation.
"Last year we felt like we had something to prove," Three Rivers coach Alex Wiggs said. "We wanted to get respect and now we've got that respect. Right now it's hard to argue with us being fourth in the nation. All three teams above us are undefeated as well. We don't put too much emphasis on where we are or where we should be in the national rankings, we just focus on us and taking care of business every night and prove that we are a top five team in the nation.
"We've made it through this semester 15-0 and I've told the girls to enjoy the break and get some rest," Wiggs continued. "But when we get back that we still have some areas that we need to get better in and make that push in the second half of the season."
Through the first 15 games, the Raiders have shown that they can put a lot of points on the board as they've outscored their opponents with an average of 88.3 points per game while allowing 57.1 points per contest. Three Rivers ranks first in the nation in total points and fourth in points per game. The Raiders also rank ninth in steals per game 11th in assists per game and 13th in field goal percentage.
Individually, Myia Yelder is the team's offensive leader as she's averaging 16.4 points per game, but the Raiders have shown that they can share the ball as Autmn Dodd and Jenna McMillen are averaging double figures at 13.7 and 13.1 respectively while Joi Montgomery (9.1 PPG), Karlee Holland (8.8 PPG) and Ari Winston (8.1) have contributed to the offense.
"We now have a foundation built for the second half," Yelder said. "We basically have a lot of the same players from last year, but we also have some new people. So in the first half, we were learning to trust each other getting comfortable playing with each other to build that team chemistry."
One of the aspects about this team is how quickly they can get on a run and put points on the scoreboard when they're down. In Thursday night's game against Williams Baptist, the Raiders were down by five in the first quarter only scoring one field goal in three minutes, but were able to rattle off a 9-0 run in 1:15 of play to take the lead.
"When we get down, we don't think that we're going to stay down," Yelder said. "We sometimes get confused when we look up at the scoreboard and see that we're down. It definitely puts a little gas in our tank and wakes us up to get on those runs.
"We need everybody to contribute," Yelder continued. "It's great when we can have multiple girls in double figures and when someone is having an off night, there's 15 other girls that can pick them up so it gives us a lot of confidence that we're so deep."
The Raiders, who have won 46 straight regular-season games, will look to continue their success after Christmas as they'll have a couple of games in Memphis for the Southwest Tennessee Shootout before the new year. Three Rivers plays Wallace State at 6 p.m. on Dec. 29 and Lewis & Clark on at noon Dec. 30.
The Three Rivers men close out the first semester at 7 p.m. Saturday as the Raiders host Southern Arkansas University Tech.
Robert Augsdorfer - Daily American Republic