No. 8 Cedar Rapids Kennedy impressive in win over No. 5 Iowa City West

IOWA CITY - Cedar Rapids Kennedy staked its claim as a possible top seed when postseason regional pairings are announced. The eighth-ranked Cougars came to fifth-ranked Iowa City West and stuffed the Women of Troy, 60-54.

Kennedy (8-2, 13-5) moved within one game of West (9-1, 15-2) in the MVC Valley division and handed the Trojans their first conference loss.

Kennedy's man-to-man defense shut down the post and either prevented the Women of Troy from driving to the hoop or blocked the shots that came when they did. West's three inside players had a total of nine points on 3-of-19 shots.

'I thought our post kids defended well,” Kennedy coach Tony Vis said. 'We've really come a long way on our defense. We wanted to defend the 3-point line and make them shoot it from the outside, one shot and get the rebound. We did not want them to attack the basket.”

West made just three baskets in the first half and was 1-of-16 in the second quarter. Kennedy held West scoreless for seven minutes in the first half, and West was frankly fortunate that the Cougars didn't blow it out by halftime. West was 3-of-27 in the first half and finished shooting 32 percent overall.

'I think that was partially that they were off shooting and partially that we did a good defensive job,” Kennedy's Stephanie Botkin said.

At the other end the Cougars were the aggressors, constantly creating transition opportunities and getting to the free-throw line 44 times. Kennedy didn't shoot all that well either, but it got to the foul line and cashed those chances in. Kennedy made 30-of-44 free throws while West made 10-of-13.

West got within five points in the fourth quarter, but Kennedy scored on the next seven possessions to put the game out of reach.

'Kennedy played good defense,” West coach B.J. Mayer said. 'They got to the free-throw line a lot. They were really attacking the basket. We were settling for things on the outside. In a game like that if you can get to the free-throw line you're going to win a lot of games.

'I think we're at a crossroads, and we told them that. We can get back to playing how we were playing or we can continue on the path where we're not playing as well. We're kind of on a downward swing for some reason. I guess that's what I get paid to figure out.”