Delta Drops Home Opener

University Center, MI – "To be the best, you have to beat the best," said women's head basketball coach Kelly Miller on Saturday after the Pioneers opened the season with a 91-68 loss at the hands of the 12^th ranked Kalamazoo Valley Community College.  And, with the Pioneers returning six players from last year's squad it looked to be a possibility as they ended the first quarter down just two points, 26-24.

Unfortunately for Delta, though, their luck turned for the worse as sophomore forward Shallon Graywey went down with what appears to be a season ending injury while Kalamazoo Valley went on a 15-0 run to take a sizeable lead.  Lauren Rogers did everything she could to keep the Pioneers in the game, scoring 14 of her game-high 24 points in the first quarter. 

"We knew coming into this season that Lauren would be a tough matchup for any defense, that's why we wanted to get her going early," said Miller. 

"We struggled to find our offense in the second quarter although Harmany gave us a nice spark.  It's tough as a freshman point guard to know when to look to score and when to try and get others involved, though."

The second half saw DC play tight with KVCC but still saw a 17 point half-time deficit swell to 20 and then 23 by the end of the game.

"We needed more players to step up and make an impact, we just didn't have enough," said Miller. 

Leading Delta was Lauren Rogers with 10 rebounds to go with her 24 point.  Harmany Williams put up 14 points and nine boards while Rachel Briggs added nine points of her own. 

"We know what our ultimate goal is and that is to compete at the top of the eastern conference and what better way to prepare for that than to face the best from the west conference?"

The Pioneers will see KVCC again December 10th at Kalamazoo and will also face nationally ranked Lake Michigan this preseason as they continue to work towards being at the top of their game for the MCCA Eastern Conference start in January.