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Women's Basketball 2012-13 Schedule

DATE/TIME	OPPONENT/LOCATION	TEXT/SCORE
10/13/2012 11:00 am	@ Mega Jamboree @ Owens CC in Toledo Location: Away	Two weeks in to the new season the Cougars tested the waters with their new team. They played 4 "mini" scrimmages of 20 minute running 'halves' against the field of 20 JUCO, NAIA and Div I club teams. All in all the day was a pleasant surprise for the coaching staff as the young Cougars competed well.
10/20/2012 3:00 CST (4:00 EST)	SCRIMMAGE - @ IU Northwest Location: Away	The Cougars hit the road again for an exhibition game/scrimmage with former Cougar's star Megan Holland's new team, Indiana University Northwest. IUNW is a NAIA school. The team competed well and gave the four year school all they wanted while learning more about themselves. No one was injured in the contest.
10/27/2012 11:00 AM	SCRIMMAGE - SPRING ARBOR Location: Home	Coach Ryan Frost begins his 2nd season at the Jackson area NAIA School trying to rebuild the Spring Arbor program into the NAIA power it once was. The Cougars return 4 seniors plus local talent Jessica Garrison and a handful of impact freshman including Carley Newman (Niles Brandywine) and Jenna Jamieson (Wayland Union) and will present a monumental challenge to the home standing Kalamazoo Valley Lady Cougars.
11/03/2012 11:00 AM	BLACK & WHITE SCRIMMAGE & ANNUAL PARENTS' DAY Location: Home	As a warm up for the alumni game the Newest version of the Lady Cougars will participate in an Intra-Squad scrimmage. Coach Brown and Coach Todd will participate in a "draft" and coach the two teams in two running clock 30 minute halves.
11/03/2012 1:00 PM	ANNUAL ALUMNI GAME Location: Home
11/06/2012 7:00pm	Kalamazoo College (Scrimmage) Location: Anderson Center, K. College	Lady Cougars travel to Division III Kalamazoo College for their last pre-season scrimmage before the Opener against Delta College at Cougar Arena on Saturday at 1:00pm
11/10/2012 1:00 PM	DELTA COLLEGE Location: Home	KVCC 58 Delta 57
11/16/2012 5:30 PM	@ East/West Classic KVCC v Alpena at Alpena Location: Away	Cougars broke out early, applying intense full court pressure, to assume an 18-3 lead. Never looking back, they forced 46 turnovers from the stunned Lumberjacks and earned a 78-39 victory. Bre Birmingham led the Cougs with 17 points and 8 rebounds, while Kandice Johnson chipped in 11 points. All but one player scored in the rout. KVCC 78 - Alpena 39
11/17/2012 1:00 PM	@ East/West Classic KVCC v St. Clair at Alpena Location: Away	In a perfect example of the old coaching adage that if you have a bad shooting night anyone can beat you, the Lady Cougars dropped the 2nd game of the East West Classic to the team from Port Huron and dropped to 2-1 on the young season. Getting shots similar to the ones they got on Friday night, the KVCC team shot a paltry 22% for the game. "SC4 blocked a couple shots early and we started playing timid." Said Coach Welch. "Lots of lessons that can be learned from this one, including an exercise in mental toughness. This loss will make us better - count on it!" Birmingham, Johnson and Leonard all had 7 points. Birmingham was also the leading rebounder with 7 as the young Cougs were out-rebounded 62-42. KVCC 47, St Clair CCC 66
11/20/2012 5:30 PM	CALVIN COLLEGE, JV's Location: Home	The roller coaster that has been Kalamazoo Valley Community College women's basketball to start the 2012 campaign continued Tuesday with a 70-49 win over visiting the Calvin College JV team. The Cougars improved to 3-1 on the year. Sophomore Molly Sleeman broke out of her early season slump in a big way, as she led the Cougars in points (16), assists (4) and steals (4). "Molly always works really hard," KVCC coach Ron Welch said. "I knew it was only a matter of time until that work ethic was rewarded. Good to see her break out. We need what she brings to the table." Three other Cougars joined Sleeman in double figures. Bre Birmingham had 11 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, Paw Paw's Selena Martinez added 10 points and three assists in first collegiate start, and freshman guard Jade Gerber had 10 points and two assists. After a horrid shooting day in their last game, the Cougars shot a decent 37.5 percent from the floor and a spectacular 17-for-18 from the free-throw line (94.4 percent), including a perfect 10-of-10 in the second half. "We were also better rebounding the ball tonight and finishing defensive possessions," Welch said. "As the season wears on, that will be a key for us just as it is every basketball team." KVCC outrebounded Calvin 50-36 on the night. The pace quickens after Thanksgiving Day when the Cougars host the Annual Turkey Trot Invitational Friday and Saturday. "The four teams involved this weekend -- Owens and Edison State from Ohio, and Macomb and Kalamazoo Valley -- are four of the traditionally strong teams in Region XII," Welch said. "It should be a great two days of basketball as Ohio takes on Michigan in a Classic format. The two Michigan teams will not play each other, nor will the Ohio teams play each other. Game times are 3 and 5 on Friday and 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday with Valley playing the later game each day." KVCC - 70 Calvin, JV - 49
11/23/2012 5:00 PM	TURKEY TROT SHOOT-OUT KVCC vs Edison Location: Home	Sophomores Molly Sleeman and Bre Birmingham shot 50 percent from the floor for the game on a combined 10-for-20, as the duo led the Kalamazoo Valley Community College women's basketball team to a 70-59 win over Edison in the second game of the Turkey Trot Shootout Friday at the Cougars' gym. Sleeman also shot 50 percent from 3-point range and the KVCC locked down Edison, as the Cougars improved to 4-1 on the young season. In the earlier gamer, Macomb CC shocked previously unbeaten and fourth-ranked Owens, 65-63. KVCC led Region XII rival Edison, 32-27, at halftime. Edison scored first in the second half, but the Cougars responded with a 19-8 run. The Cougars went inside early in the second half offensively, particularly in transition, and frustrated the Chargers with their defensive pressure. "I was pretty pleased with our over all defensive effort tonight," Cougars coach Ron Welch said. "The kids are buying in to how we need to play defensively and I think that's providing an offensive spark for us at the other end." Birmingham and Sleeman both tallied 12 points in the balanced attack and Hamilton's Jackie Devereaux joined them in double figures with 10. Roni Hayden and Chazsi Beckman added eight points apiece as all but one Cougar scored. Devereaux also led the KVCC team with eight rebounds, but the Cougars still were outrebounded 47-44 by the Ohio team. Christina Thurber returned to the Cougars lineup and ended with eight assists and only two turnovers. "Good effort today by all of our gals," Welch said. "It's nice to see everyone contribute. We had seven ladies get 20-plus minutes in the game. That's the way we like to play -- play hard and then let someone else go in and do it. "I thought our depth was a contributing factor even though our bench only outscored theirs by two points. Good team win." KVCC will return to action at 1 p.m. Saturday against Owens, with a preliminary game between Macomb and Edison beginning at 11 a.m. at the Cougars' gym. KVCC - 70 Edison - 59
11/24/2012 1:00 PM	TURKEY TROT SHOOT-OUT KVCC vs Owens Location: Home	After busting out to a 12-point lead at halftime with great defense and a sizzling fast-break attack, the Kalamazoo Valley Community College women's basketball team withstood a furious rally, lost the lead, but got it right back to post a 69-66 win over their fourth-ranked visitors from Owens on Saturday. "It was pretty obvious we'd have our hands full, particularly with Owens losing their first game of the season (Friday) to a very good Macomb team, 65-63." happy KVCC coach Ron Welch said. "We did a lot of growing up today as a team and this is the way I had envisioned them playing. Very proud of the way they took care of their business today." Owens tied the game at the 5-minute mark and it was wild from that point on until Bre Birmingham, who scored the Cougars' last four points, converted an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Cougars (5-1) a two-point lead with 32 seconds left. Molly Sleeman made a free throw with 15.8 seconds left to extend the lead to three at 69-66. After an Express timeout with 4.8 seconds left, they were able to get an unsuccessful desperation shot off. Birmingham secured the rebound and the game was over. Hastings' Roni Hayden came off the bench at the 5-minute mark and made an impact on the game for KVCC. "We were pretty stagnant on offense when Veronica entered and she did just what I hoped she would do -- she attacked," Welch said. "I'm really happy for her. She scored two straight contested layups for four of her nine points and those gave us the lead back twice and kind of got us back to playing the way we should." Looking at the stats, you wouldn't have guessed that the Cougars won this game. They were out rebounded by a whopping 16 boards and shot only 50 percent from the free-throw line (13-of-26). KVCC shot a decent 40 percent from the floor (26-for-65) and forced 21 Owens turnovers with its changing defensive pressure. Freshman post KD Seawood led the Cougars with 14 points and 10 rebounds, her third double-double of the young season. Sleeman, a sophomore guard from Otsego, added 13 points, four assists and three steals. Paw Paw's Selena Martinez led the team with five assists. KVCC returns to the court next Friday in the third annual Terry Gillette Memorial tournament against Mid Michigan CC. KVCC - 69 Owens - 66
11/30/2012 7:30 PM	GILLETTE MEMORIAL CLASSIC - KVCC vs Mid Michigan CC Location: Home	The Kalamazoo Valley Community College women's basketball team took the first step to defending its Gillette Memorial tournament championship by running past a game, but out manned Mid Michigan CC team on Friday, 87-48. "The people who have been around women's basketball at Valley understand what a terrific man and coach Terry Gillette was, and why this tournament means so much." Cougars coach Ron Welch said. "His contribution to this program was immeasurable. I miss him every day." Welch's team played with a lot of passion against MMCC and forced 26 turnovers -- in the first half -- to take a 41-19 halftime lead. The Lakers ended up with 37 turnovers for the game as the Cougars pressed for only a couple possessions in the second half. KVCC scored 39 points off those miscues. Freshman KD Seawood came off the bench to drop in 17 points and nab seven rebounds for KVCC. Both totals led the Cougars, who out rebounded the Midland based visitors by a slim four-board margin. "I think we're getting better rebounding the ball, but it's still a work in progress," Welch said. Sophomore Jackie Devereaux added 15 points as every KVCC player got into the scoring act. They scorched the nets in the second half for 57 percent and shot 50 percent for the game.Christina Thurber contributed nine assists from her point guard position. Leading scorer for Mid-Michigan was Cassie Wanless with nine points, all in the first half. The Cougars (6-1) will play Henry Ford CC, of Dearborn -- a 64-62 winner over Hope College JV -- in the tournament championship game at 3 p.m. Saturday. KVCC is vying for its third straight Gillette crown. Hope and Mid-Michigan play at 1 p.m. in the third-place game. KVCC - 87 Mid Michigan - 48
12/01/2012 3:00 PM	GILLETTE MEMORIAL CLASSIC - Henry Ford vs KVCC (Championship) Location: Home	KVCC - 87 Henry Ford - 72 Gillette Championship Trophy Stays in Kalamazoo
12/08/2012 1:00 PM	HOPE COLLEGE, JV's Location: Home	The old adage that defense wins was proven again Saturday at Kalamazoo Valley Community College's gymnasium. After a lethargic offensive first half, the No. 14 KVCC women's basketball team picked up the defensive intensity in the second half and fed off that at the offensive end to come away with the win, 63-48, against a very scrappy Hope College junior varsity squad. Bre Birmingham led the second-half charge for KVCC (8-1) with 11 of her game-high 13 points coming after the break. KD Seawood added another double-double to her resume with 10 points and 10 rebounds. She also had six steals. "You know going into every game against Hope that they are going to be physical, play great defense and be very disciplined on offense," Cougars coach Ron Welch. "I thought they outplayed us in the first half and we were lucky to be ahead at the half. "Roni Hayden, I thought, played very well today. She's such a smart player. Probably never gonna be our leading scorer, but that e at the end of the first half to give us a lead after not playing well was pretty big." The Cougars won't play again until next Saturday because of exam week at KVCC. They are on the road at perennial national power Kankakee CC in Illinois in what has become a fiercely competitive inter-state rivalry. KVCC - 63 Hope College, JV - 48
12/15/2012 1:00 PM	@ Kankakee CC Location: Away	Tradition rich Kankakee Community College's gym is never an easy place to play. On Saturday, it was almost impossible. Almost. The 14th ranked Lady Cougars withstood a barrage of free throws in the 2nd half to come away with a tough 71-65 win over the Cavaliers. "One of our game goals every game is to shoot 25 free throws." said an exasperated Coach Ron Welch. "Kankakee shot 25 - in the 2nd half - to our nine. Hard to put a team away when they're being handed opportunities at the charity stripe." KVCC, which entered the game averaging 13 fouls per game, was whistled for 26 in the contest. "We persevered. Battled. Hung together and made some plays at the end." said Welch. "Roni Hayden's three with 49.6 seconds was huge and Bre Birmingham's game clincher with 2.6 seconds left no doubt. We also were able to force three turnovers in the last 2 minutes after Kankakee had cut the to three at 66-63." Otsego Sophomore Molly Sleeman led the Cougs with 16 points, including a solid 6 for 6 showing at the free throw line and Harper Creek grad Bre Birmingham added a double double of 13 points and 11 rebounds. Despite Birmingham's effort the Cougars were out rebounded 40-36 as KCC's 6'5" freshman import, Manuella Kanmegni, from France, tallied her own double double with 16 pts & 10 rebounds. The Cougar defense held Kankakee's leading scorer Sarafina Handy, who came in averaging a healthy 18.2 ppg to eight points - all in the 1st half. "Handy's a player." complimented Welch. "Sleeman and a solid team defensive concept held her down. The big girl on the other hand kind of made a living on the offensive glass. We were doing a pretty good job boxing her but couldn't buy a call for over the back. Frustrating when you're doing the right things and not getting the call." Welch's Cougars won their seventh straight to enter the Christmas break at 9-1. They return to action on January 5th at home against former Lady Cougar Tracy Little and her Grand Rapids Raider team. This is Little's rookie season with the GRCC team. KVCC - 71 Kankakee - 65
01/05/2013 1:00 PM	GRAND RAPIDS Location: Home	Sometimes shaking off the effects of an extended lay-off takes a while. The Kalamazoo Valley Community College women's basketball team knows this. After not playing since Dec. 15, the 14th-ranked Cougars had a hard time getting up to speed against a fired-up and scrappy Grand Rapids CC team coached by former KVCC player Tracy Little. The host Cougars earned a hard-fought 59-44 victory. "I got out-coached and my players got out-played in the first half," subdued KVCC coach Ron Welch said. "I thought the Raiders played a lot harder than we did and we were really impatient on offense. Thank goodness defense is a constant for us and we picked up the intensity and execution in the second half. We were able to pull away pretty steadily, although Tracy's team hung around for a long time. That's a credit to them and to her." KVCC shot an anemic 33 percent in the first half, but sophomore Roni Hayden made a couple plays that gave them the Cougars a three-point lead at the half, 27-24. GRCC reflected the lethargic KVCC defense by shooting 42.3 percent. The Cougars came out of the locker room after the break on a mission. They locked down on defense better, and that created more offensive opportunities. The renewed energy and commitment to defense held the visiting Raiders to 23 percent shooting for the half while an attacking offense saw the Cougars shoot 44 percent. KVCC leading scorer Bre Birmingham had 12 of her game-high 20 points in the half. K.D. Seawood, who sat much of the first half in foul trouble, dropped in nine of her 11 in the second half. Point guard Tina Thurber led the Cougars in rebounding with seven, all on the defensive end. "I'm glad we got that one out of the way," Welch said. "Playing after a long lay-off and getting that 'flow' and intensity back is tough. Pretty proud of the way our kids were able to shift gears and pick up the pace. Not a lot of time to dwell, though; we're back in action on Monday at 5:30 at Kellogg. "This is a fun time of the year -- lots of games and less practice time. The kids love it. We'll take the win, tip our hat to the GRCC team for playing hard, and move on." KVCC 59, GRCC 44
01/07/2013 5:30 PM	@ Kellogg Location: Away	KVCC 73 Kellogg 42
01/09/2013 5:30 PM	GLEN OAKS Location: Home	BY DEL NEWELL Special to MLive.com KALAMAZOO, MI" The winning beat goes on for coach Ron Welch's Kalamazoo Valley Community College's women's basketball team. The Cougars, ranked No. 7 in the latest National Junior College Athletic Association Division II poll, had too much balance and defense for Glen Oaks in rolling to a 64-45 MCCAA Western Conference win at KVCC's gym Wednesday evening. Victory was the 10th in a row for KVCC and gives the Cougars a 12-1 record overall and 3-0 in the division. Glen Oaks drops to 5-11 and 0-3. KVCC used a trapping, full-court press to force 25 turnovers and come up with 14 steals, with 27 points coming off the turnovers. Bre Birmingham led a balanced KVCC offense with a team-high 17 points, including connecting on 7-of-10 field goal attempts, and Khadijah Seawood had 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds. “Everybody plays, everybody gets some time and everybody is capable of scoring,” Welch said. “Tonight it was Birmingham who was our leading scorer. She's from St. Joseph, Ind., and before that was at Harper Creek.” Birmingham also had a pair of blocks and three assists for KVCC, which had 22 assists as a team. Molly Sleeman, the former Otsego all-sports standout, helped key the defense, coming up with four steals and four assists to go with nine points. “Defensively, tonight she was awesome,” Welch said of Sleeman, a 5-foot-6 sophomore. “And she also knocked down a couple of 3s for us. The first one, I believe, stretched our lead to 21 or 22 points. She's our leader and one of our captains.” KVCC, which led by as many as 24 points (59-35), was 5-of-10 shooting 3-pointers and 38.1 percent overall (24-of-63). Glen Oaks was held to 28.8 percent shooting (17-of-59) and 4-of-22 on 3-point attempts. Alania Schwarz led Glen Oaks with 17 points. The Lady Cougars are on the road this Saturday, January 12th for a 5:30 contest at Muskegon. Because of a facility conflict at MCC, this is a new game time. The game originally was scheduled to start at 1:00. KVCC 64, GOCC 45
01/12/2013 5:30 PM	@ Muskegon Location: Away	January 12, 2013 Muskegon: Coach Welch’s women’s basketball team at KVCC has won 11 in a row, is 4-0 in the Western Conference and is ranked #7 in the nation. Saturday night at Muskegon they gave their coach an early birthday present with a convincing 75-40 conference road win. Welch’s 69th birthday is Sunday. The Cougars displayed great team balance offensively with four players in double figures and all but one player scoring. In what has again become the Cougar trademark, Valley’s defensive effort was excellent holding the Jayhawks to 25.9% shooting and forcing 33 turnovers. “I really like the way these gals are getting after people.” Said the happy Cougar mentor. “There’s nothing more rewarding to a coach than to have a team ‘buy in’ and play with great effort. This group has done that.” Freshman point guard Tina Thurber and Bre Birmingham both tallied 14 points for the Cougs. Thurber’s East Kentwood teammate KD Seawood chipped in 12 points and 8 rebounds, with Chazsi Beckman adding 11 off the Cougar bench. In a remarkable show of sharing the ball, the Cougar starters combined for 20 of the team’s 22 assists, led by Thurber’s 6. Otsego’s Molly Sleeman was her usual pesty self at the defensive end with 5 steals. The Lady Cougars return to action this Wednesday night in the cozy confines of Cougar arena as they host the Chargers of Ancilla College. Game time is 5:30 KVCC 75, Muskegon 40
01/16/2013 5:30 PM	ANCILLA Location: Home	KVCC 76 Ancilla 50
01/19/2013 1:00 PM	JACKSON Location: Home	KVCC 100 Jackson 95 (O.T.)
01/23/2013 5:30 PM	@ Lansing Location: Away	KVCC 53 Lansing 69
01/26/2013 1:00 PM	LAKE MICHIGAN Location: Home	KALAMAZOO, MI" Sometimes losing a game can provide a team with some perspective and a renewed sense of urgency. Kalamazoo Valley’s women’s No. 6-ranked basketball team had won its last 13 games going into a Wednesday night road contest against Lansing and was feeling pretty good about themselves. They lost. By 16. Not that Lansing is a bad basketball team" they’re 15-4 on the season" but the Cougars did not feel as if they played the way they could’ve as they might have been peeking ahead to today’s match up with the 8th-ranked squad from LMC. On Saturday, against old rival Lake Michigan at Cougar Arena, the Valley ladies let a 15-2 start fuel them to one of their biggest wins to date in the 2013 league season, defeating the Redhawks, 83-62. The win moved KVCC back into a tie for the top spot in the conference with the team from Benton Harbor and moved their record to 16-2 overall, and 7-1 in the Western Conference. LMC drops to 15-4 and 6-1. “There are always doubts coming off a loss, but today my team removed a lot of those doubts,” said a pleased Cougar coach, Ron Welch. “We played at a high level today against a very high caliber opponent. There was some apprehension, but the young women on this team assured us that we’d be OK. Sometimes that can just be talk, but today they backed it up with a very impressive performance. I’m extremely proud of our basketball team. I have seen so much maturity in the last month.” After getting off to the great start the Cougs steadily built the lead and led 41-21 at the half, shooting 60.7 percent in the process as Valley bench post players" led by Jackie Devereaux and Lauren Leonard" scorched the Redhawks for a combined 18 first half points. Devereaux ended up leading the home team with 18 points in 17 minutes. Add in a pair of treys from Otsego’s Molly Sleeman and seven points from leading scorer Bre Birmingham and the locals went into the locker room with the ‘uncomfortable’ 20 point margin. Predictably, The LMC team made a run in the second half and cut the lead to 11 with 9:42 to play, but a huge three from Paw Paw’s Selena Martinez expanded the lead to 14 and that was as close as the Redhawks got. Roni Hayden was six for six from the free throw line in the last 10 minutes of the game and ended with a season and career high 16 points. Sleeman, KVCC’s local resident ‘pest’ on defense ended with 13 points and 6 assists against only one turnover on the day. The Cougars, who shot a rather spectacular 59.3% for the game" including a 3 for 4 showing from behind the arc" were also 16-20(80%) from the charity stripe. The home team, amazingly, turned the ball over 23 times, but shooting such a high percentage and also holding a 38-29 margin on the boards helped negate the miscues. “That’s a very good basketball team we beat today,” Welch said. “They have a lot of weapons. Jason Cooper does a great job and I’m sure they will be very motivated when we travel down there the last game of the regular season. Our job between now and then is to remain focused on the job at hand" the next game" and make sure that game has some meaning in the league race. It’ll be a war I’m sure.” The Lady Cougars are off until next Friday when they will visit Grand Rapids to begin the second half of the league season. Game time will be 5:30 p.m. KVCC 83, Lake Michigan 62
02/01/2013 5:30 PM	@ Grand Rapids Location: Away	From MLive Grand Rapids - The Kalamazoo Valley Community College women's basketball team must have left its "A" game someplace alongside a wintery US 131 on the trip to Grand Rapids CC's Ford Fieldhouse on Friday. The Raiders ran out of players trying to defend the aggressive Cougars, surrendering the lead, and the game, 69-64. Grand Rapids finished the game with three players on the floor. "I've been involved in games where our kids didn't play very well and still got the win," KVCC coach Ron Welch said. "But never one as weird as this one. I take my hat off to Tracy (Little, a former KVCC player and first-year coach at GRCC). Her kids -- all six of them -- outplayed us for probably 30 minutes and undoubtedly deserved a better fate. This is such a humbling game. If you don't play the right way, most of the time the basketball gods make you pay. We got lucky tonight." The lethargic Cougars team was outshot (39.7 percent to 36.4 percent) and outrebounded (44-39) but managed to force enough turnovers (30) and get to the free-throw line enough (27 times) to eke out the road win. The Kalamazoo team scored 22 points off those turnovers and made 20 of those 27 free throws (74.1 percent). "Obviously we're a team that cannot go without practice reps," Welch said. "Because of a scheduled day off and then some school-closing issues, we only practiced a couple times in the last week. It showed." The Cougars did place three in double figures in the scoring column with Bre Birmingham leading with 15, plus eight rebounds. KD Seawood and Roni Hayden added 13 and 12, respectively. Selena Martinez added another solid game off the bench with nine points and three assists, as did sophomore post Lauren Leonard with eight points and five boards. Megan Mitchell led GRCC with a game-high 17 points and 4 assists. The seventh-ranked Cougars, who moved to 17-2 (8-1), don't have a lot of time for adjustments as Kellogg visits KVCC on Monday at 5:30 p.m. "I think the big thing we have to learn from this game is that we have to be business-like in our approach to every game," Welch said. "We always have a target on our back and get people's best game. We can't go in and expect to win just because we're Kalamazoo Valley." KVCC 69, GRCC 64
02/04/2013 5:30 PM	KELLOGG Location: Home	Defense has been, and always will be, a staple of Kalamazoo Valley Community College women's basketball teams under coach Ron Welch. Monday at the Cougars' gym, KVCC got back to business after apparently taking last Friday off. A couple of extended scoring droughts at the beginning of both halves spelled doom for visiting Kellogg CC in KVCC's 68-38 victory. The ladies from Battle Creek didn't score in the first half until the 15:40 mark on a free throw by Raeha Weaver, and then went almost another five minutes before they got their first bucket of the game by Cherese Vasser. By that time the Cougars, who weren't exactly scorching the nets, had a double-digit lead they never gave up, leading 29-15 at the half. Selena Martinez's eight first-half points off the bench fueled the Cougars offense. The second half was pretty much more of the same with the stifling Cougar defense holding Kellogg scoreless for the first 6:47 before Vasser again broke the drought with a layup making the score 38-17 in favor of KVCC with 13:13 to play. The aggressive Bruins team put KVCC on the free throw line 30 times in the game - 21 in the second half - and the Cougars cashed in by making 22 of them (73.3 percent) for the game. Between that and some timely second-half 3-point marksmanship from Jackie Devereaux (3-of-4) and point guard Tina Thurber (2-for-4), the home-standing Cougars were able to continue to build the lead to the final 30 margin. "KCC basically packed it in in a 2-3 zone for the last 30 minutes of the game," Welch said. "I'm really proud of what we were able to get done against the zone in the second half. Maybe this will serve notice that if you dare us to shoot the three, we have some kids that can hurt you from deep." Devereaux's three-point display netted her game-high scoring honors with 12 points, followed by Martinez and Roni Hayden with 10. Chazsi Beckman and Thurber chipped in eight each. Bre Birmingham, although limited by foul problems and being under the weather, still led the Cougars with six rebounds as the KVCC team won the battle on the boards, 40-36. The seventh-ranked Cougars improved their record to 18-2 overall and 9-1 in conference play - good for a tie for first place with Lake Michigan. League play continues for the KVCC ladies on Wednesday with a road contest at Glen Oaks. KVCC 68, Kellogg 38
02/06/2013 5:30 PM	@ Glen Oaks Location: Away	Life on the road in the MCCAA Western Conference can be a challenge for any team, and that includes the seventh-ranked Kalamazoo Valley Community College women's team. Coach Ron Welch's theory is that consistent, hard nosed, tough minded defense can level that playing field a bit. The Cougars picked up their 19th win of the season at Glen Oaks, 82-42, but there was some question at the half as they let a 14-point lead dwindle to eight (40-32) as the Vikings finished with an 8-2 run to end the half. "I think we got a little too comfortable," Welch said. "There was some talk about that in our halftime chat. The ladies came out pretty well in the second half." That's probably an understatement. KVCC held GOCC scoreless for the first 5:45 of the second half and the Vikings, who shot 13.8 percent on 4-of-29 attempts, could only muster 10 second-half points as the Cougars hit on 50 percent of their shots and put 42 points on the scoreboard. "You ask anyone on our team and they'll tell you that Molly Sleeman is our catalyst on defense," Welch said. "She was very good tonight - again - and chipped in five assists to boot." The Cougars had several people play well tonight. Leading scorer Bre Birmingham continued her steady play with 18 points and six rebounds in between trips to the bench because of a bad case of bronchitis. Christina Thurber had a special night, too, with a double-double of 11 points and 10 assists, plus five steals. Fellow ex-East Kentwood player Khadijah Seawood added 12 points and five rebounds off the bench, and Jackie Devereaux tossed in 11 points to give the Cougars four players in double-figures. Chazsi Beckman had seven steals and a second straight eight-point game. The Cougar bench outscored the GOCC bench, 32-10. The win boosted the Cougars to 19-2 overall and allowed them to keep pace with streaking Lake Michigan at 10-1 in the league. "This team is starting to mature and play consistent basketball," Welch said. "That will help us maintain momentum going into these last five games of the regular season - and hopefully beyond." KVCC has qualified for the District "G" post season tournament for the 15th year in a row. KVCC 82, Glen Oaks 42
02/09/2013 1:00 PM	MUSKEGON Location: Home	The rivalry between the women's basketball teams of Kalamazoo Valley Community College and Muskegon CC has provided a lot of varying story lines and usually provides highly competitive contests -- but not Saturday. In the Cougars' "Play for Kay" Pink Zone game, seventh-ranked KVCC systematically dismantled the Jayhawks, 87-44, for their 36th straight home-court win. Ironically, the last time the Cougars dropped a game at home was against MCC on Jan. 17, 2010. "I hadn't really thought about it," KVCC coach Ron Welch said. "I knew that we generally play pretty well at home, but I had no idea. A former coach in the league and I were talking after our game last Monday with Kellogg. Aware that we were unblemished at home this year (14-0), he asked how long our streak was. I couldn't answer him, so we explored it and came up with 35 straight, which totally surprised me. He told me I should make the NJCAA aware of that. Still haven't gotten around to that. I don't even know if that's a record for us. We had some pretty good strings in the past." Everyone got into the act in the scoring column on this day, and the Cougars' trademark defense held Muskegon to 27.9 percent shooting while forcing 30 turnovers. KVCC scored 32 points off those turnovers. Leading the charge for the home team was Otsego's Molly Sleeman. She was 9-of-15 from the floor, 3-for-3 from the charity stripe, and had five rebounds, five assists and a whopping eight steals in 27 minutes. Leading scorer Bre Birmingham wasn't far behind, tallying 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting and a team-high nine rebounds. KVCC also placed two others in double figures with Jackie Devereaux and a hobbled K.D. Seawood adding 11 and 10 points, respectively. "All in all, a good day to be a Lady Cougar," Welch said. "But there was a bit of a cloud cast over the day when Roni Hayden went down with some kind of a leg injury. I'm not going to speculate until we have more information, but needless to say Roni is an important part of this team. She's one of our captains and is playing very well. We all have our fingers crossed that it's nothing serious." The Cougars improved to 20-2 (11-1 MCCAA Western Conference) on the season with the win. They will play next on the road at Ancilla College in Indiana on Wednesday. KVCC 87, Muskegon 44
02/13/2013 5:30 PM	@ Ancilla Location: Away	As evidenced by all the "goofy" stuff going on in NCAA Division I basketball lately, playing on the road can be treacherous at best. Playing without two starters can compound the problem. Ask Ron Welch, KVCC's longtime coach. "We again escaped with a (64-59) win and I'm really proud of the ladies for battling thru the adversity." said Welch. "That's a game we could easily have lost, but found a way to win it late against a game, but under-manned Ancilla team." Taking a quick look at the stats seems to bear him out. Out-shot 40% to 36% and out-rebounded 44-35 it would seem that the visiting Cougars were in for a long night. But then there's that defense. Forcing 30 turnovers and the ability to get to and convert from the free throw line (16/22 - 73%)tipped the scale in the Cougs favor. The Valley team was 10/10 in the last 5:26 of the contest to make up for an off shooting night. Five different players contributed to that effort with Aree Dobbins hitting the last two with 24 seconds left to seal the deal. Sophomore Molly Sleeman held the hot hand again tonight and led the Cougs in scoring with 17. Dobbins, Bre Birmingham and Jackie Devereaux each added 11 points to the winning total. Bre Birmingham led in rebounding for Valley with 8 boards. Kaylia Richardson had a monster game to keep her team in it with 30 points and 16 rebounds. Richardson is averaging 26.4 points in league play. The 21-2(12-1)Lady Cougars find themselves alone in 1st place in the Western Conference and are on the road again on Saturday against the run and gun Jets from Jackson CC. Jackson is coming of an upset of #9 ranked Lake Michigan College on the Redhawks home court last night, 109-106. KVCC 64, Ancilla 59 KVCC now 21-2 and 12-1 in Western Conference (1st)
02/16/2013 1:00 PM	@ Jackson Location: Away	Since the Jackson Jets installed the "Grinnell" offensive system the KVCC Lady Cougars are a perfect 7-0. In another 'run and gun' display Saturday in Jackson, the KVCC team moved to 22-2 on the season and more importantly solidified their spot atop the MCCAA Western Conference standings with a 13-1 mark in conference play with the 117-108 win. "Playing Jackson is kind of a parody on the old hockey joke that, 'I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out!'" joked Cougar head coach, Ron Welch. "Only in this case it's, 'I went to a basketball game and a track meet broke out!'" The Jets aggressive, full court pressing and trapping defense and the barrage of 'threes' at the offensive end has left many a team waving the white flag of surrender. But not the Cougars. "They give you lots of possessions." explained Welch. It's just like any other basketball game though - it's what you do with those possessions that make the difference. Just have to take advantage of what they're giving you and not turn the ball over to much." The 7th ranked Cougs did just that. Even though they turned it over 30 times, the combination of their 62 percent (44/71)shooting from the floor (based on the ability to get and make lay ups), the aggressiveness offensively to get fouled and make free throws(29/43) plus a 52-43 rebounding advantage was to much for the Jets to over come" even with their 15 made "threes." "It's scary playing them," said an exhausted Welch. "They are never out of a game and they are never really in control of a game. They 'only' shot 46 treys against us today, which is the lowest number of any of the games to date, so we did a good job challenging shots, but we were up 67-47 at halftime and I was warning our kids not to get to comfortable. They were gonna make a run, and boy did they ever." The Cougars never lost the lead, but Jackson cut it to one at 107-106 with 1:41 to play, but Paw Paw freshman Selena Martinez calmly stepped to the line and drained two free throws and Molly Sleeman and Jackson's Shauquanna Collins traded layups making it 111-108, then the Cougar "D" and freshman KD Seawood took over. The defense got three straight stops and Seawood scored the last 6 points of the game to put the game out of reach. Sleeman led all scorers with 32 point" 21 of those in the 1st half" and was joined by four other Cougars in double figures. Tina Thurber(17), Jackie Devereaux (14), Bre Birmingham (13) and Seawood (12) all reached double digits as the unselfish band of Cougars tallied 27 assists on their 44 field goals. Birmingham (8) and the 5'5" Thurber (6) led KVCC in rebounding" and a team rebounding effort that saw every dressed player chase down at least two rebounds on the day. KVCC is home for Sophomore Night on Wednesday against the team that inflicted their only conference loss: Lansing. Lansing moved into 2nd in the league with a 77-76 win over Lake Michigan Saturday" a game behind the Cougars. Game time is 5:30 p.m. KVCC 117, Jackson 108
02/20/2013 5:30 PM	LANSING (Sophomore Nite) Location: Home	KALAMAZOO, MI �" Anybody who’s coached, played or watched basketball has heard of the triangle-and-two defense. The Kalamazoo Valley Community College women’s basketball team faced the triangle-and-zero for the final 2:44 of Wednesday’s contest against visiting Lansing CC. Three LCC players fouled out in the final 6 ½ minutes, leaving the short-handed Stars only a trio of players on the floor to finish the game as the host Cougars rolled to a 71-55 victory. “Actually, it’s kind of harder to play that way because you don’t know what to do,” said KVCC freshman Khadijah Seawood, a 5-foot-11 forward/center, who erupted for 21 of her career- and game-high 25 points in the second half. She also grabbed a contest-best 15 rebounds. “It was weird,” she said with a laugh, after a KVCC opponent finished a game with fewer than five players for the second time this season. Grand Rapids finished with four. What’s not so strange: The Cougars winning the Michigan Community College Athletic Association Western Conference title. It marked the fourth time in five seasons that KVCC has done it, and on Wednesday the Cougars did it outright. The Cougars (23-2, 14-1 MCCAA Western) blitzed LCC (21-5, 11-3) with a 19-1 scoring run in the final 6:29 to wipe out a 54-52 deficit. KVCC’s victory avenged a 69-53 road loss to the Stars on Jan. 23. KVCC is ranked seventh in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II poll. “This is great because I’ve never won a conference before,” said Seawood, an East Kentwood High School product. “We’ve been working hard to get this far.” Seawood went to work in the second half with strong moves around the basket. She finished the game 10-of-17 from the floor and 5-for-5 from the free-throw line. KVCC’s Jackie Devereaux, a 6-foot freshman center from Hamilton, made things extra-difficult on LCC. Devereaux added 22 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore forward Bre Birmingham (Battle Creek Harper Creek) added seven points and eight assists for the Cougars, who shot 43.1 percent compared to 31.3 for LCC. KVCC dominated the Stars on the boards, 57-31, and in the paint area overall. Ron Welch mug, KVCC.jpg Ron Welch “KD (Seawood) was a pretty special player, I thought, in the second half,” KVCC coach Ron Welch said. “We talked all week, we wanted to get the ball inside because we felt if we could get them in foul trouble, it would work to our advantage and that’s what happened. “(Seawood) was attacking the basket. She tends to want to be a jump-shooter and we’ve been working all year long -- post coaches have been working with her all year long -- to attack the basket and get to the free-throw line.” LaTonya Shade paced LCC with 14 points. Dyann Wiley scored 12 and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Stars, who led 32-29 at halftime, and Robin Robinson had 11 points. “This was the first team that beat us in the conference and we just had to put our hearts on the floor,” Seawood said. “I was like, ‘I can’t take shots; I’ve got to go to the basket and get fouled.’ It was working in the end. You’ve got a better chance going to the basket.” KVCC closes the regular season Friday at Lake Michigan College. The Cougars await their opponent in the MCCAA championship game on Saturday, March 2 on the eastern side of the state. They also have qualified for the District G tournament March 5-9 at Delta College. Welch said it’s been an “interesting” season for his team, which features six sophomores and a half-dozen freshmen. “ … I can’t say enough about our sophomores,” Welch said as his eyes began to water a little. “(Winning titles) never gets old, I know that.” KVCC 71, Lansing 55
02/22/2013 5:30 PM	@ Lake Michigan Location: Away	BENTON TOWNSHIP - Lake Michigan College's 66-56 women's basketball victory over Kalamazoo Valley Community College Friday wasn't for a division championship, but it was still a big win. The Red Hawks entered the contest on a two-game losing streak, which had allowed Kalamazoo Valley to wrap up the Michigan Community College Athletic Association West Division title before Friday's game. That didn't diminish the significance of the matchup for LMC, which avenged an 83-62 loss to the Cougars earlier in the season. "It's always a big win against KVCC," LMC coach Jason Cooper said. "You throw the records out the door, it's always a big game against KVCC. We're happy to be able to right some wrongs and situate ourselves for the regional tournament." Kalamazoo Valley (14-2, 23-3) scored the first basket, but LMC (12-3, 21-6) responded with the next six points and never trailed again. Jabria Hill helped the Red Hawks take control of the game early, scoring eight of her team's first 10 points. She finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. "She played through some cramps, she played through an early knee injury," Cooper said. "She really just got us through those tough times. She really was the backbone of the team tonight." Hill wasn't the only key player to battle through injury for the Red Hawks. Breauna Rivoli-Johnson missed the end of the first half and beginning of the second with an injury, but still finished with 19 points. "When those two play well, and our other players step up, we're a pretty good team," Cooper said. LMC led 35-30 at halftime, but had to hold off two runs by the Cougars in the second half. Bre Birmingham, who led KVCC with 16 points and six rebounds, converted three-point plays on back-to-back possessions to pull the Cougars to within three at 49-46 midway through the second half. The Red Hawks responded with a 7-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Courtney Peter, that made it 56-46. The Cougars again came back and closed the margin to 56-54, but lost Birmingham to injury during the run, and LMC was able to pull away down the stretch. "I was disappointed with our level of play in the 1st half," said Coach Ron Welch, longtime Cougar coach. "We hang our hat on defense and it wasn't our usual effort. The game didn't have a lot of significance for us, but we try to teach the approach that the most important game of the year is our next game." Valley had already locked up the conference championship, a berth in the MCCAA State championship game next Saturday and the number one seed in the District "G" Tournament the following week. Practically no 'carrot ' there at all. "We made a couple of runs at them and I thought that up until Bre (Birmingham) went down, momentum was on our side." continued Welch. We were down two and the injury seemed to take the wind out of our sails. The good news is that we have seven days before we have to play again and we can re-group, re-focus and heal up." The Cougars play at either Macomb or St. Clair County on March 2 for the MCCAA Association Championship. Those two teams play Wednesday, so, barring an upset the opponent will not be known until late Wednesday night. Game time is 3:00pm KVCC 56, LMC 66
03/02/2013 3:00 PM	MCCAA Championship Location: St Clair County CC, Port Huron, MI	After his team’s 68-62 loss to host St. Clair County Community College Saturday in the MCCAA state title game, Kalamazoo Valley CC women’s basketball coach Ron Welch tried to look on the bright side. “We’ve been in the state championship game six times (during Welch’s tenure),” the 18th-year Cougars coach said. “We’ve lost in the state (MCCAA) championship game three times and won three times. Each time we’ve lost in this game, we’ve won the regional and gone to nationals.” Welch further noted that during his time at the KVCC helm, only two teams have won the state championship and advanced to the national tournament. One of them was his 2003-04 squad the ended the season ranked #1 in the country. Not that Welch is a superstitious man or anything. “Not even a little bit, no,” he quipped. “If you believe (he’s not), I’ve got some swamp land to sell you.” KVCC competes in the District G Thursday at Delta College in the Saginaw area and, if things go well, plays for the title next Saturday. Welch and the shorthanded Cougars (23-4), ranked 14th in the NJCAA Division II national poll, couldn’t help but take the optimistic approach following their battle with No. 6 St. Clair (28-1) in Port Huron. KVCC was in position late to perhaps tie the game in the final minutes, but St. Clair’s Sheyna Deans hit a prayer of a 3-point shot with 44 seconds remaining to extend the Skippers’ lead from three to six. “It literally was a desperation 3 with about 1 second left on the shot clock,” Welch said. “We get a stop there, a turnover there, we still have time to get something done. When that one went in, I kind of knew they were destined to win that one.” KVCC sophomore guard Molly Sleeman, a former Otsego standout who led the Cougars with 14 points, five assists and three steals, said it was a fumble near halfcourt when the play happened. “It was almost a steal, but she ended up getting it and threw it up,” Sleeman said. “She banked it in. It was a bank. She chucked it up there, about 35 feet (away). Chucked up a prayer.” KVCC could have used a little help. The Cougars were playing without two starters in 6-foot sophomore forward/center Bre Birmingham and 5-9 sophomore guard/forward Veronica Hayden. Birmingham, KVCC’s leading scorer and rebounder, is out with an ankle injury. Her return is in question. Hayden suffered a knee injury a couple weeks ago and was lost for the season. The Cougars struggled to hang with St. Clair on the boards, as the Skippers enjoyed a 55-41 advantage in that statistic �" 25-10 on the offensive end. St. Clair made only 35.8 percent of its shot attempts, but launched 81 of them (29-of-81). KVCC finished 20-of-55 (36.4 percent). Jackie Devereaux scored 10 points for KVCC, which trailed 27-22 at halftime. “We’re a little down right now, but I think we’ll bounce back,” said Welch, whose squad won the MCCAA Western Conference title. “I think today told us a lot about ourselves. Even though we’re a little depleted, we competed and I think we can go and challenge for (the regional title) �" even if Bre doesn’t come back.” St. Clair’s Heidi Highstreet, who was named the NJCAA Division II national player of the week, had 13 points and 12 rebounds. Teisha Knott scored 12 for the Skippers, while Deans had 11 and Cianna Peterson 10. “We had so many chances to take the lead in the game. We got down so many times and we could get so close and never get over the hump,” Sleeman said. “It’s frustrating, but at the same time we really pushed through. We did the best we could. The Skippers, who never trailed in the game built as 27-22 halftime lead. The first half was marked by tight defense and poor shooting, St. Clair shot 27.9 percent from the floor in the first half, while the Cougars managed to shot 29.2 percent from the floor. The second half featured fast paced action and big runs by each team. St. Clair opened the first half with 8-0 run in the first two and a half minutes to open up a 35-22 lead �" their largest of the game. The Cougars then went on a 13-2 run over the next six and half minutes to cut the lead to 37-35 with 12:52 left. Over the next 3:23, SC4 went on a 12-3 run to open the lead back up to 49-38 on a Tiesha Knott put back layup. The teams traded baskets over the four minutes, but the Skippers took another double digit lead, 59-49, with 4:19 left on a Cianna Peterson triple. KVCC’s Selena Martinez answered that with a three with 1:31 left that capped an 11-4 Valley run to cut the St Clair team’s lead to 63-60 and set up the goofy ending. Sheyna Dean converted a Knott pass into a layup with 59 second to open the lead back up to five points, but with 44.1 seconds left, KVCC freshman point guard, Christina Thurber, calmly hit two free throws to cut the Skippers lead back to one possession at 65-62 and Coach Welch called time out. “We practice end-of-game scenarios all the time.” Said Welch. “I thought the gals were really focused and calm. We knew we had to get a stop. We elected to play defense because we knew we were going to get the ball back with 15-20 seconds left.” St. Clair then brought the ball down the court and proceeded to run time off the clock. Sleeman tipped the ball over the time line and almost got the crucial steal, but Deans corralled the ball and banked in a 25 foot shot with 14.9 seconds left and one second left on the shot clock. Ball game. “I think,” said Sleeman, “Especially the sophomores this year, having not made it to nationals last year (after winning the state title) put a little fire under us. Not making it and wanting it so bad, this whole season has been kind of building up to that (going to Nationals).” KVCC 62, St Clair 68
03/07/2013 7:30 PM	Region XII (DISTRICT Location: Away	The Cougars Enter the Region XII, District "G" tournament at Delta College as the #1 seed and will play on Thursday March 7 against Grand Rapids. The Raiders won a play-in game against Kellogg 68-56 on Tuesday night to earn their way in to the Semi. Game time is 7:30 PM.
03/07/2013 1:00 pm	2013 NJCAA Region 12 District G Tournament Location: Delta College, University Center, MI	UNIVERSITY CENTER, MI -- Once again the Kalamazoo Valley Community College women's basketball team's depth was a factor in winning a game. This was a big win, too. KVCC defeated Grand Rapids CC, 68-50, in the Region XII District G regional semifinals Thursday at Delta College. The 18th-ranked Cougars (24-4) will face MCCAA Western Conference rival Lake Michigan College (24-6), a 74-67 winner over Lansing, in Saturday's 1 p.m. regional championship game. KVCC and LMC split their two meetings this season, each winning on its home floor. The Cougars won the Western Conference title, one game ahead of LMC. The winner of Saturday's game advances to the March 19-23 NJCAA Division II national tournament at Illinois Central College's CougarPlex in East Peoria, Ill. Even though the Cougars are riddled with injuries, they dug their heels in defensively and let a huge 26-7 run in the last six minutes of the first half fuel them to a 46-15 halftime over the momentarily stunned Raiders. "Our defense really made our offense go and when we were forced to run half-court offense we shot the lights out," KVCC coach Ron Welch said. "We got some transition layups, but also shot well from behind the arc. When we shoot like that, we can be pretty hard to deal with." The Cougars shot 60 percent from 3-point range (6-of-10) and held GRCC to 31.3 percent shooting for the game. KVCC and Grand Rapids both had players on crutches on the sideline, but the Cougars' bench provided a spark on several occasions and ended up outscoring the Raiders 21-7, led by Paw Paw freshman Selena Martinez with 11 points. "Every single player that came off the bench tonight contributed," Welch said. "Selena's contribution on the perimeter, Melina DeKilder's defense in the post (DeKilder had three blocks and six rebounds in 15 minutes), Lauren Leonard's calm, sophomore presence and Chaszi Beckman's terrific athleticism played a huge role in this win." KVCC placed four players in double figures with sophomores Molly Sleeman (22 points and five assists) and Jackie Devereaux (13 points) stepping up in the absence of leading scorer and rebounder Bre Birmingham (ankle injury). "Sophomores are supposed to be your playmakers and tonight Molly and Jackie filled those roles well," Welch said. "We'll need more of the same on Saturday." Freshman post Khadijah Seawood chipped in 10 points for KVCC. The shortest player on the floor - 5-foot-4 freshman point guard Tina Thurber - led the Cougars with eight rebounds. "Hard to measure the 'heart' this team showed tonight," Welch said. "We played hard. We played with energy, and we played together. The amount of adversity this team has faced this year and still been able to accomplish what they have is a tremendous tribute to their 'want to.' "They have put themselves in position to get to the national tournament and even though they are wounded, I wouldn't bet against them. I'm a very proud coach, but our work is not done." KVCC 68, Grand Rapids 50
03/09/2013 1:00 PM	NJCAA Region XII, District "G" Championship Game Location: Delta College	Winner of this game advances to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament in East Peoria, IL at Illinois Central College
03/19/2013 TBA	National Tournament at Illinois Central, Peoria, Illinois Location: Away