by VALLEY CITY, N.D. – College of Saint Mary Basketball Coach Jesse Flanagan said his squad played better Saturday afternoon, despite dropping its second straight game. The Flames lost 87-73 to Valley City State University in the nonconference contest.
“I thought we played pretty well today,” Flanagan said. “Valley City has a really tough team that made it to the national tournament last year and has four starters back from that team. So, overall, I can’t say that I’m disappointed.”
Miranda Acuna (SR/San Antonio, Texas) and Tyler Sumpter (Cheyenne/Arapaho) led the Flames and combined to score well over half the squad’s point. Acuna tossed in 23 points and Sumpter finished with 19. No other CSM player had more than six.
“I definitely thought Tyler played up to her ability this afternoon and Miranda made some great plays,” Flanagan said. “We just need to get more out of our post players. They were a combined 5-for-20 from the field.”
Lacey Knudsen (SR/Fairplay, Colo.) led CSM with six rebounds, while Sumpter had three assists. Another positive for CSM was compiling nine steals as a team.
But the Flames struggled defensively.
“The difference in the game was second-chance points,” Flanagan said. “Valley City had almost 30 second-chance points. A lot of their 3-pointers came off of offensive rebounds and kick-outs. That is frustrating when you get a stop but can’t grab the rebound on defense.”
Valley City outshot CSM 47 percent to 33 percent and outrebounded the Flames 42-34.
CSM returns to the court Tuesday with a 6 p.m. home contest against Bellevue University.
“We definitely found out a lot about our team this weekend and the areas that we need to improve on,” Flanagan said. “We will get back at it and practice on Monday and then will be ready to play on Tuesday against Bellevue.”
