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The Montcalm Community College (MCC) Centurions women’s basketball team earned the program’s first win for its new program on opening night, Friday, Nov. 1, beating Cornerstone University, 54-42, at home.

With sports returning to the MCC campus after 40 years, game-day jitters were expected and it showed at the beginning of the game for the Centurions (1-0 overall) as MCC was scoreless for almost the first seven minutes of the game.

MCC’s offense, however, warmed up and put on a shooting display for the home crowd, going 8-of-10 behind the three-point line, with freshman guard Grace Riley (Grand Ledge, Mich.) leading the way with 18 points, going perfect from the three-point arc with 5-of-5 shooting.

“It’s crazy and mind-blowing,” said Riley, on her reaction to the Centurions’ first program win on the opening night of the season. “I was so nervous to lose the first game, but we eventually came out strong. We’ll take the win for history.”

It was a slow start for both teams, with the Cornerstone Golden Eagles, of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference, leading 5-0 until Centurions guard Emily Putnam (Sheridan, Mich.) nailed a three-point shot off an assist from sophomore guard Makenna Rautio (Big Rapids, Mich.) with 3:24 to go in the first quarter to give MCC its first points of the game and giving the Centurions the shot in the arm it needed to get its offense going.

The two teams traded baskets until Cornerstone turned it over on a traveling call, giving MCC its first opportunity to take the lead, which it did when freshman guard Madi Longoria (Wyoming, Mich.) dropped a three-point shot from an assist by freshman forward Kennedy Schilling (Flushing, Mich.), giving MCC a 9-7 lead.

The Centurions would never relinquish the lead.

Riley hit her second three-pointer seconds before the first quarter buzzer sounded, giving the Centurions a 12-7 lead. MCC pushed its lead to 17-9 with a three-pointer by Longoria and it would later build it to 31-22 going into halftime, with Putnam and Riley hitting threes and freshman forward Emma Rewa (Greenville, Mich.) getting involved, scoring in the paint for the Centurions.

In the second half, the Centurions didn’t lose a beat – on either side of the ball – with Riley getting a steal and scoring on the other end with an assist by Putnam, to push MCC’s lead to 33-22. Riley followed it up on the next possession, hitting a three-pointer with 8:15 to go in the quarter and scoring two points on a putback rebound on the next possession, giving MCC a 38-22 lead.

“The third quarter was big for us, as I thought we made better adjustments in that quarter than they did,” Centurions Head Coach Scott Pedigo said. “And Grace got hot. She made some big shots for us and I think we did a nice job of holding them in the fourth quarter. She helped us go up by 18 at one point and that set us up for the rest of the game.”

Though the Golden Eagles would outscore the Centurions 22-16 from that point, MCC’s lead was too much for them to overcome.

Getting the program’s first win on the opening night of their inaugural season was a special moment, according to Pedigo.

“It was nice getting that first win,” Pedigo said. “That lull in the beginning of the game, I was a little scared we weren’t going to score in that first quarter, but once the ball went through the net finally, though, all the nerves just dropped.”

With their first win already in hand, the Centurions will need to weather the highs and lows of the season as they look to compete in the Michigan Community College Athletic Association.

“Our goal from here is to just stay positive, especially in the losses,” Riley said. “It’s important to always stay positive.”

Riley’s remarks echoed what Pedigo told the team after the game.

“I just told them we just got to keep working hard,” he said. “We won tonight, but realistically, we’ll be facing some losses as we see better teams as we go, so we have to focus on staying healthy and staying together, keeping eligible with good grades, and I told them they’ll have to learn to not get caught up in the highs or lows and just keep working hard.”

UP NEXT

The Centurions will face Grand Rapids Community College at home on Wednesday, Nov. 6, at 5:30 p.m. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. The Centurions will travel to Alma on Monday, Nov. 11, to play Alma College’s junior varsity team, which will be at 7:30 p.m., and will then return home to host Marian University at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 15.

SCORE BOARD

            1^st Q     2^nd Q   3^rd Q    4^th Q    TOTAL

CU      7          15        5          15        42       

MCC   12        19        11        12        54