Titans' freshman guard Seqoyia Tillman looks to score against double-team defensive pressure by the Panthers on Jan. 28 at Portland Community College (Photo by Ryan Kostecka)
Freshman guard Danielle Schmidt proved she isn’t your ordinary reserve player for Titans’ head coach Greg Sheley.
Schmidt scored 18 of her game-high 20 points in the second half, to help the Titans win their third straight Southern Region game 101-47 over the struggling Portland Panthers on Jan. 28. It was the most points the Titans have scored so far this season.
“It was a lot of fun to watch Danielle play with confidence,” Sheley said. “She has a good skill set and did a lot of very nice things in the second half.”
Schmidt recorded her first double-double of the season, scoring 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field, while pulling down 10 rebounds and dishing out seven assists.
Freshman guard Joleen Chanco also recorded her first double-double for the Titans, with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
“I had no idea,” Chanco said of her first double-double. “I felt it tonight, and I was just really relaxed. I wanted to help my teammates and keep attacking the basket.”
Three other Titans finished the contest in double figures. Sophomore guard Reed Levings finished with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, in 26 minutes of action.
Freshman point guard Kersey Wilcox struggled from the field (2-of-12) but finished with 14 points. Freshman guard Madison Moore chipped in with 10 points.
“I knew I had to focus on the basics,” Levings said. “Get my feet set, and just let it fly.”
Leading 51-32 after a sloppy first half, the Titans pulled away with a 35-4 run midway through the second half and outscored the Panthers 50-15 in the second half.
“Wow, I know we pulled away, but that is impressive,” Sheley said of the second half. “In the second half we settled into a zone and limited them to one shot for a good amount of time, which helped put the game away.”
Eleven Titan players scored points in the winning effort, something Sheley was very proud of after the game.
“Our bench has been solid, especially as of late,” Sheley said. “It is always nice to get a big victory and allow everyone to get some quality playing time. We substituted freely throughout the game.”
“It’s really exciting to get opportunities for the girls who are there practicing everyday and working their butts off. Our bench really got the energy going for us all and it carried over the whole game,” Schmidt said.
After struggling from the field (30.6 percent) in the first half, the Titans came out of the locker room with a chip on their shoulder. They finished the second half shooting 57.6 percent (19-of-33) from the field.
The Titans dominated many of the statistics, including offensive rebounds (25-15), total rebounds (68-35) and points off the bench (51-16). The Panthers only shot 20.5 percent from the field (15-of-73) and 5.6 percent from behind the 3-point line (1-of-18).
“I was pleased that we rebounded so well,” Sheley said. “It was a goal of ours to dominate the boards tonight. I would have liked to have made a few more shots, which would have led to a few less rebounds.”
Freshman guard Kiara Berry led the way for the Panthers with 9 points and eight rebounds.
The Titans next home game is Feb. 4, when they host the Mt. Hood Saints (7-11, 3-4 Southern Region) at 4 p.m. at Titan Court.
“Everybody is nervous, but we know how good of a team we can be and have to live up to that potential,” Levings said of the mentality heading into the second half of conference action.
