Allen Community College’s women showed glimpses Wednesday of how good the Red Devils can be.
“But that’s the problem,” Red Devil head coach Leslie Crane said. “They’re only glimpses. We’ve gotta be more consistent.”
Allen’s lulls against the nation’s second-ranked Johnson County Cavaliers, including a particularly costly one early in the fourth quarter, turned into a 79-62 defeat.
The loss is Allen’s second straight after a 13-0 start to the 2024-25 season.
“We cannot continue to have these unforced errors that kill you,” Crane said. “We’re showing some immaturity, which is disappointing.”
After trailing by 10 in the early going, Allen stormed back to tie the game at 26-26 on consecutive buckets from Yolaine Luthi. A pair of free throws from Aaliyan Brown on ACC’s next possession gave Allen its first lead.
The game still was knotted before the Cavaliers ended the first half with a 9-1 run to take a 42-33 lead into the locker room.
Undaunted, Allen responded again, with a pair of free throws from Nikki Gear pulling the Red Devils to within 51-48 midway through the third quarter.
But Johnson County ended the period with five straight points, including Aa’mya Stacker’s putback at the buzzer to stretch the lead to double digs.
Allen was stuck in neutral in the early going of the final period. A 3-pointer from Tawhirikura Doyle with about 6 minutes left in the game finally halted what had become a 19-3 Cavalier run.
“What’s killing us is that 5-minute gap of not executing,” Crane said. “When they made that shot at the buzzer in the third quarter, we just weren’t there mentally the first five minutes of the fourth quarter.
“We’ve got to toughen up,” she continued. “That’s what this conference does. You’ve gotta be tough, or you’re gonna get walked on.”
Aiyanna Mason came off the bench to score a team-high 11 points for the Red Devils.
“We’ve been waiting for that,” Crane said “I’m gonna expect that out of her now.”
Luthi added 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Doyle had four assists. She, Marta Cutazzo and Brown each had two steals.
