Lady Eagles Win Against Conference Rival Faith Baptist

On Tuesday night, the Lady Eagles of Emmaus Bible College squared off against conference rivals Faith Baptist in a much anticipated game. With three girls on the Emmaus roster from the Ankeny/Urbandale area including Madison Laib (Ankeny Christian Academy), Alli Howard (Ankeny Christian Academy), and Savannah Petersen (Iowa Christian Academy), it is always a "home away from home" game for the girls as they compete in front of family and friends.

The first quarter was filled with adrenaline, excitement, and stifling high-intense defense by the Emmaus ladies. With Shelby Hembera back in the lineup giving the Eagles the much needed post defense on 1st Team All-American Laura Garwick, Hembera's defense proved effective as Garwick struggled to convert consistently and Faith Baptist found themselves with just 14 points to Emmaus 36 at the end of the 1st half. Alongside Hembera's post defense, Sharon Tomlinson, Madison Laib, and Marissa Kerttula provided high intense ball pressure which made passing into the post a difficult task for the Faith Baptist ladies. "We were really trying to keep the ball out of the post without having to double down. In order to do that, we needed to have high intense ball pressure on the guards at all times. Faith has two of the top post players in the conference in Pearson and Garwick and we knew we couldn't allow them to dominate the paint. I trusted and believed that Shelby (Hembera) and Rachel (West) could handle Garwick and Pearson on their own and they did an amazing job. I was even more excited that Savannah (Petersen) and Erin (Edmondson) were able to bang in the post with their bigs providing a great rotation of post defense throughout the game. This truly was a total team win tonight," Said Coach Graw.

The second half proved to be very similar with the added bonus of Rachel West and Madison Laib catching fire with a combined four 3 pointers in the first 5 minutes of the 3rd quarter. Hembera also went to work in the post scoring 8 of her 13 points in those first 5 minutes and more importantly getting Laura Garwick (Faith) in foul trouble. From that point on the Emmaus Ladies took full control and jumped up to a 30 point lead fairly quickly as the second team checked in to play the last five minutes of the third quarter plus the entire fourth. "This was definitely a milestone for our program. In past years we typically only had 2 girls to put in off the bench and it was a blessing to make a big substitution early. Not only did it provide a much needed rest for our high minute players, but it was also great that our second team went in and competed while finding some success as well," said Coach Graw.

The Lady Eagles were led by Madison Laib with 13 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 assists followed by Marissa Kerttula with 12 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks. Shelby Hembera added 13 points and 8 rebounds while Rachel West also chipped in 13 points. Emmaus improves to a record of 4 wins and 3 losses as they defeated Faith Baptist by a score of 72-52.