Lady Knights Navigate Past Navy Prep 68-52!

11.22.21

Warwick, R.I. – November 22, 2021: The CCRI Lady Knights basketball team hosted the Midshipmen Candidates from the Naval Academy Prep School (NAPS) from Newport, RI to the Cullen Fieldhouse for a game on Saturday. The Lady Knights defeated NAPS 68-52. With the victory CCRI improves to 4-0 on the season.

The Lady Knights and Navy Prep have faced off many times and always provide an exciting contest. The game started out as a back and for the affair with freshman center Maggie Schwab (Narragansett, RI) setting the pace for the Lady Knights with eight of CCRI’s 16 points while freshman point guard Shannon Clarke led the scoring with 10 of her game-high 27 points in the first frame to give NAPS a narrow 18-16 lead after one quarter. CCRI switched-up their defensive strategy to stop the 6’1” point guard Clarke from totally dominating the game and held her to just two points in the second quarter. The Lady Knights outscored NAPS 14-7 in the second quarter to take a 30-25 lead into the halftime break.

In the third quarter the Lady Knights continued showing Clarke multiple defensive looks and different defenders to keep her off her game but she still managed to pour in 11 more points in the quarter. However, the Lady Knights utilized the patented balanced attack with seven players scoring in the quarter to extend their lead to 49-40 going into the last quarter. In the final frame CCRI once again clamped down on Shannon Clarke holding her to just four point in the quarter while getting six points on two 3-pointers from freshman sharpshooter Chloe Rayko (Coventry, RI) and five points including a 3-pointer from freshman Anayah Melgar (Coventry, RI) to pull away from Navy Prep and win by the final count of 68-52.

Leading the way for the Lady Knights was freshman center Maggie Schwab with a Double-Double including a team-high 14 points with a team-high 10 rebounds with two assists and a steal. Chloe Rayko scored 12 points on 4-8 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc adding two assists and a steal. Freshman forward Ashley Lima (Cape Verde) had a very good game with eight points, nine rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocked shots. Anayah Melgar came off the bench to score eight points including two 3-pointers, four rebounds and assist and a steal. Freshman forward Taylor Enright (West Warwick, RI) added eight points, including a 3-pointer with three rebounds and a steal. Shannon Clarke of Navy Prep led all scorers with a game-high 27 points.

The Lady Knights have little time to rest on their laurels as they will travel on Sunday to New Rochelle, NY to play the No. 7 ranked (NJCAA DIII Women’s Basketball Poll) Express of Monroe College-Bronx Sunday at 3:30pm.

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The Community College of Rhode Island, New England’s largest comprehensive community college, enrolls nearly 10,000 students in credit courses and thousands more in non-credit and job training classes. Its athletic program boasts 12 varsity programs and an academic support program for all student-athletes.