With competition mounting in a deep Big 8 Conference, the Orange women’s basketball team had no time for upset bids in its opening game against Cedar Ridge.
Last January, the Red Wolves shocked the Lady Panthers 44-37 at Red Wolves Gymnasium, an early conference loss that set Orange back in its futile attempt to catch Hillside for the Big 8 Championship.
On Tuesday night, Orange junior Jala Rainey scored Orange’s first 13 points–then didn’t score again. It was just as well as she received plenty of help in the final 24 minutes.
Guard Samantha George had a career-high ten points to push the Lady Panthers past the Red Wolves 61-34 at Panther Gymnasium. Freshman Erin Jordan-Cornell registered nine points and six rebounds as the Lady Panthers (8-3, 2-1 in the Big 8 Conference) won its fourth straight.
Nadia Oswald led the Red Wolves with 13 points, her fourth game in double figures this season. Senior Tori Dalehite returned to the lineup for the Red Wolves after suffering an injury to her right foot in November.
Orange sophomore Mary Moss Wirt missed her seventh straight game with an injured right leg suffered against Carrboro on December 12. Wirt, who averaged 4.1 points per game as a freshman, figured to carry a heavier offensive load this season after the graduation of leading scorers Ices Barnett and Lauren Cates from last season’s 19-7 squad.
Without her, Orange has relied on sophomore point guard Aaliyah Harris for points. Coach B.J. Condron also wants Jordan-Cornell’s 5-foot-11 frame to step to the forefront with Wirt’s status in question.
“We’ve been emphasizing that,” said Orange Coach B.J. Condron. “We feel like she does a good job of getting open, but we don’t do a good job of seeing her. Sometimes we force it when it’s not there. She does a good job of finishing down low.”
Catherine Coyle and Oswald scored consecutive field goals in the opening minutes to give Cedar Ridge a 4-2 lead, but Rainey’s 3-pointer off a feed from Harris put Orange ahead for good. The Lady Panthers finished the first quarter on a 16-5 run and led by double digits from that point forward.
It was among the deepest Orange’s efforts of the season. Of the ten players who suited up, eight scored. Freshman Katelyn Van Mater also had a career-high eight points. Junior Cheyenne Mann had six points, one short of her career-mark set against Bartlett Yancey on December 27.
As Orange prepares for Northern Durham on Thursday night, Condron is set to play without Wirt for the foreseeable future, if not the rest of the way.
“I think slowly, they’re getting used to it,” said Orange coach B.J. Condron. “The rotation changes and you have to go deeper into our bench. People are getting more comfortable playing.”
Cedar Ridge (1-10, 0-3) will travel to Granville Central on Wednesday night. Then they host Northern Durham on Friday night at Red Wolves Gymnasium.
After Orange’s trip to Northern, the Lady Panthers will host a Chapel Hill team that defeated Northwood on Tuesday night. The Tigers’ win created a six-way tie for first place in the loss column. Northwood is 3-1, while East Chapel Hill, Southern Durham, Orange and Chapel Hill are 2-1, while Vance County is 1-1.
ORANGE 61, CEDAR RIDGE 34
CEDAR RIDGE–Catherine Coyle 2, Nadia Oswald 13, Jacori Walton 5, Takia Nichols 4, Tori Dalehite 4, Phoenix Smith 6.
ORANGE–Aaliyah Harris 7, Jala Rainey 13, Jarmil Wingate 3, Erin Jordan-Cornell 9, Samantha George 10, Katelyn Van Mater 8, Brenna Mehl 6, Cheyenne Mann 5.
3-POINTERS: CEDAR RIDGE (Oswald). ORANGE 3 (Harris, Rainey 2)
FOULED OUT—Coyle, Walton, Lloyd.