Sterling rolls at Geneseo for third straight Big 6 win

GENESEO — Coming off Saturday’s two-point road win at Quincy, Sterling did not want to have a letdown Thursday night.

The Golden Warriors' defensive effort made sure that did not happen.

Sterling was dominant in a 45-19 Western Big 6 Conference win, taking a commanding 24-5 lead at halftime. It was the third straight Big 6 win for Sterling (8-1, 3-1) after losing at No. 7 Galesburg.

Madison Austin led Sterling with 16 points. The 6-foot-3 Illinois State recruit also helped deny Geneseo (2-6, 0-4) any easy buckets inside as she finished with at least three blocks.

“We knew coming off a really big win, we have to make sure we don’t take any team for granted,” she said. “You’ve just got to play as hard as you can.”

Sterling kept its defensive effort going all four quarters as the Leafs finished with over 24 turnovers. Both teams sent in their reserves down the stretch.

Joslynn James added eight points for Sterling and Alivia Gibson had seven points off the bench.

Sterling coach Taylor Jackson said the team had a letdown in the 47-34 setback to Galesburg.

It has since avoided that after a fourth straight win.

“We wanted to make sure tonight that we came out and played hard,” she said. “It didn’t go perfectly, but I think we were able to execute a lot of things that we wanted to do.”

Jackson said the team struggled with Galesburg’s pressure defense.

Thursday night, it was Sterling dictating the game. Eight different Sterling players had buckets in the win.

“I would have preferred that we could get out and run a little bit more than what we did, but at the end of the day we’re proud,” Jackson said. “We got every one of our girls in, had some girls hit some really good shots that we’ve been waiting to see. Proud of our girls.”

Jackson said the team is excited about where it is early on and still has plenty of room to grow. Sterling plays another Big 6 game at United Township on Saturday.

“I think we know if we want to achieve some of our goals this season in the conference and in the postseason, there are some things that we really need to tighten up,” she said. “That’s what practice is for.”