The Benilde-St. Margaret’s girls’ basketball team defeated the tough Roosevelt Teddies 60-37, shutting down their star player, senior Suriya McGuire, who has already committed to playing for the University of Miami (Florida) next year, holding her to just eleven points.

The team knew that this game was going to be difficult, but went in with confidence after having a 4-0 start this season. “We knew it was not going to be easy, we also expected the game to be more up-tempo,” said assistant coach Mark Agnew. The game started out at a slower pace, but had very high intensity, with players rolling around fighting for every loose ball and playing strong and vigorously on defense.

After this slow start, sophomore guard Josie Dillon picked up the momentum, scoring a three-point shot and giving the Red Knights a 4-2 lead. After half, the score 15-13 with BSM leading.

Both teams proved determined to win at the start of the second half. After McGuire made a nice three-pointer, sophomore guard Olivia Antilla fired back with three straight, unanswered three-point shots, putting the Red Knights ahead 26-16.

Other exciting plays included a steal and breakaway for senior captain Itisha Alexander, followed by a series of great offensive rebounds and put back shots for sophomore forward Khadijah Shumpert. In free-throw shooting, the Red Knights finished the night 20-28 overall after going 2 for 8 in the first half.

Defensively, junior Sarah Kopp led the team with 9 rebounds, while Shumpert had 7 and junior Lindsay Kaminski added 6. BSM finished the game scoring 45 points to the Teddies 24 in the second half. Antilla ended the night with 20 points, Dillon added 9, and Alexander ended with 8.

“We just want to get better every game, 5-0 is a good start but we’re not playing nearly as well as we will be later this season,” said head coach Bob Lyons. The next game for the girls basketball team is at home on Tuesday, December 15 at 7:15 vs. the Irondale Knights.