Pratt, Kan. - Over the past two weeks, the Pratt Community College women's basketball team has gone 4-1 to open their 2024-25 campaign. All four wins have come at home against Kansas Wesleyan (JV), Bethel College (JV), Bethany College (JV), Tabor College (JV). The only loss of the non-conference schedule thus far has been against Lamar Community College last Saturday, Nov. 16.
When asked about the opening five games head women's basketball coach Christopher Jefferson had this to say, "First off, our defense has been pretty good. I think our kids have bought into what we have been running. We are trying to speed people up and force them to make bad decisions. However, we have not bought in much on the offensive end. So, it has been a struggle there to manufacture points if we are not getting points off turnovers."
The Beavers are third in the nation with an average of 17.8 steals a game in addition the team is holding their opponents to only 57.2 points a game and a 36.4 shooting percentage. "We work a lot on just the communication aspect of defense. And we have had a couple kids up top like Kalani Brock, who plays the top of the press, and is an active kid. In addition, Dana Imankulova is very sneaky. With what she does, she is incredibly good at anticipating things happening before they happen," said coach Jefferson.
Pratt will host the five and zero Cowley College Tigers on Wednesday, Nov. 19 for the opening conference game in the Dennis Lesh Sports Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. The duo of Tigers players to watch out for are sophomores Jamie Molina and Elysia Martinez. Molina averages 19.8 points and six rebounds a game while Martinez leads the team with an average of 20.6 minutes played and six assists.
"Coach Clarks is going to have them ready to play. They are very quick, press a lot, and force turnovers. They capitalize off their turnovers and I do not see them miss many shots," said coach Jefferson. "We match up size wise to them a lot better than we do a lot of teams in the conference and so over the next two days we must work hard in practice to prepare for their fast-paced play.