Warrior women defeat Central Chistian and Haskell

After a weekend sweep of Central Christian College and Haskell Indian Nations, the Waldorf women’s basketball team improved to 14-7 overall and upped their conference record to 5-3, which puts them in fourth place out of nine teams.

Goli Tavassoli pulls up for a deep trey (in white)

In Friday night’s action, BreeAnn Hageman scored the first bucket of the game seven seconds in, and the Warriors never looked back on their way to an 83-41 route of the Tigers. The Warriors scored the first 9 points of the game to set the tone of the evening, as Hageman’s two, a Goli Tavassoli three pointer, and layups from DeSia Demmings and Ellie Markwardt gave the Warriors enough momentum early to bury the Tigers after just a few minutes of play.

Markwardt’s 11 first half points and Tavassoli’s 9 points and 4 assists led the Warriors into the half with a 38-20 lead. The second half was even better for the Warriors, as a 25-7 run gave them a 65-27 lead with 12 minutes still remaining in the game. Four Warrior players ended up in double figures on the evening, and the 42 point victory gave the Warriors their second conference victory in a row and fourth conference wins in their last 5 conference games after dropping their first two conference games to College of the Ozarks.

Markwardt shot 8 of 13 from the floor and had a game high 22 points. “It was a total team effort tonight, and this was a huge win for us at home tonight,” said Markwadt. Brenna Brigham had 13 points off the bench, and Demmings had a solid night turning in a 12 point, 8 rebound effort. Hageman had 10 points, 16 rebounds and 5 blocks in 22 minutes of play as she continues to give herself a chance to be made an All-American selection this season.

In Saturday’s lower scoring affair, Goli Tavassoli led the charge as she shot 7 of 10 from 3-point range on the afternoon, and BreeAnn Hageman posted another double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Tavassoli led all scorers with 23 points. The game was 32-31 with 15 minutes to play, but Markwardt hit a three-pointer and a fast break layup plus a foul for a three point play.

The Warriors won their third straight conference game and earned their fifth win in their last six conference games.

“This was a big win cause it has us on a roll. We have three straight conference wins and are fourth in conference. That is a good spot for us to be in as we try to get the best seed we can for the MCAC (Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference) playoffs,” said Tavassoli.