EDMONTON - Fourth-year Kiah Easton-Ihediohanma matched her season-high of 21 points, while Mishynn Miller recorded her first career double-double as the Alberta Pandas cruised to a 96-70 victory over the Brandon Bobcats Saturday evening at the Saville Centre.
The Pandas opened up an insurmountable 30-11 lead in the first quarter, and while the Bobcats would improve in the second half, the early Alberta onslaught was too much to overcome. The story was largely the same as the previous contest, as the Pandas outrebounded the visitors 57-34, including 27-5 on the offensive side, to lead to a 18-0 second chance point margin. Miller had 15 points to go with 13 rebounds, eight of which were offensive, in the double-double effort. Canada West second-leading scorer Macaya Copeland had a day for Brandon, scoring a game-high 24 points and went an impressive nine-for-10 from the line.
With the victory, Alberta matches the Saskatchewan Huskies 6-0 record atop the Canada West standings, while the Bobcats slide to 3-5, and look to get back on track when they host the Regina Cougars next weekend. The Pandas, meanwhile, stay in Edmonton but are visitors at MacEwan.
After limiting her to just 11 points in last night's contest, Macaya Copeland would not be denied in the first, scoring a frame-high 10 and drew three fouls. However, that would be about the only good news for the Bobcats, as they only scored one point from a non-Copeland source and turned the ball over seven times, as the Pandas largely dominated the quarter. Reece Hall and McKinley Penninga led the way with seven points apiece with Alberta collecting a staggering 10 offensive rebounds. They led the Bobcats 30-11 after the first.
It was Kiah Easton-Ihediohanma's turn to be a one-man wrecking crew in the second, as the fourth-year Panda scored nine of Alberta's 22 points in the quarter. This was due to a more converted effort on the defensive side of the ball for the Bobcats, but they were still unable to get anything going in the half-court offensively as they headed to the locker rooms down 52-25. Easton-Ihediohanma had a half-high of 15 points, while Copeland trailed closely behind with 14.
The Bobcats made some effective adjustments at halftime, leading to a 23-20 third quarter scoreline for the visitors. Most notably, they were able to get to the line in droves, hitting nine-of-11 compared to just three attempts for the hosts. Easton-Ihediohanma paced Alberta with six in the frame, as their lead shrunk a bit in a 72-48 game headed down the stretch. While Cali Yates would pop nine points in the fourth, the Bobcats would ultimately come up short in the frame and game, as the Pandas took this one 96-70.
