Coming off of a hard fought and impressive one-point win over Logan the previous night, the Lady Rams went into Friday night’s home game against Murray ready to play their third and final game of the week.

The game was fast paced and intense from the start, with both teams tied up at 13 at the end of the first quarter. The Rams went into halftime trailing Murray by three, however Murray came out with high intensity after the half and immediately pulled ahead with several back-to-back lay-ups. The Ram’s managed to stay within ten points, but they couldn’t match up to the Spartan’s size advantage. Murray defeated Highland with a final score of 75 to 58.

Cassidy Howe led her team to the win with 19 points in a high scoring second half for the Spartans. Junior Nani Tonga led the Rams with 17 points, and both Jasmine Hansgen and Alex Debow contributed 14 points apiece.

Despite falling short in the second half, the Rams played aggressively and with great hustle the entire game.

Senior Sylvia Schulte is optimistic about the rest of the season for the young team. “We still have a lot to improve on, but I think we have a lot of potential. The more we work on playing together things will start to click,” Schulte said.

The Lady Rams already have strong team unity, and this was displayed throughout the game. There were constant cheers of encouragement coming from the bench and effective communication between players. Despite the scoreboard, the team played with a sense of passion and purpose in the final minutes of the game.

After graduating seven seniors last year, creating an effective new team dynamic is one of the main goals for this season. However, this task should not be difficult, as the Rams have several experienced returning players and a lot of talent and potential in younger players now having to step up. Junior Nani Tonga has already made an enormous contribution to the team’s success and is averaging 19 points per game so far this season.

Senior Jasmine Hansgen also sees great potential in the team this season.

“This is definitely our season. We’ve got the skills and talent and now it’s just a matter of putting it all together,” Hansgen said.

There’s no doubt the Lady Rams are going into this season with a winning mindset, and so far they have put in the work to do so. They strive to bounce back from Friday night’s loss and get ready to play at Juan Diego on December 12^th.