Pirates ‘D’ overpowering

Updated: December 21, 2011 10:34PM

MUNSTER — A stifling Merrillville defense proved to be too much for Munster to handle, as the Pirates kept their record perfect with a 59-24 victory over the Mustangs.

“I thought we did a great job of taking away what they wanted to do,” said Merrillville (10-0, 6-0 DAC) coach Amy Govert. “We wanted to put pressure on them and force their players to make some shots.”

The Mustangs (4-7, 2-2 NCC) committed turnovers on their first five possessions of the game. Munster didn’t get on the board until the 1:12 mark of the first quarter, thanks to a basket from Jordan Cole. But by that point, Merrillville had already raced to a 13-2 lead.

“They’re just a lot quicker than we are; they’re on you the whole time,” said Munster coach Matt Backs. “It’s really tough to emulate that kind of speed in practice.”

It got worse for the Mustangs in the second quarter, as the Pirates continued their smothering defense and combined it with a potent offensive attack. Merrillville shot 7-for-11 (64 percent) from the floor in the period and took a 35-6 lead into the break.

“It’s nice when the shots are falling,” said Govert. “That’s why you have to bring your defense every night, though, because the shots aren’t always going to fall like that.”

Four different Pirates scored in double digits in the contest, led by 13 points from freshman Victoria Gaines. Thanks to the big lead, Govert was able to empty her bench for most of the second half.

Said Govert: “Everybody got big minutes tonight, and that’s huge, because everyone needs experience.”

Merrillville now heads into a six-day break before a DAC matchup with Crown Point next Tuesday.

“We’ve still got improvements to make and the girls know that,” said Govert. “Now we’ve got some time over Christmas break, so we can get some practices in and fix some of our flaws.”

Munster’s loss was their fourth in a row—coming in the middle of a difficult stretch that has included games at Lowell, at West Side and at Griffith.

“I thought we’ve played pretty well in a few of those games. We knew coming into this stretch that it was going to be tough—and it has been,” said Backs. “I’m just trying to stay positive with them right now. Hopefully we can get on a roll as we get closer to sectionals.”

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