The Westlake Lady Rams will close out the 2009-2010 regular season today when they travel down I-10 to take on the Iowa Lady Yellow Jackets (9-15, 3-6) in District 4-3A action.
The Lady Rams (13-14, 2-5) are coming off a disappointing loss to district leading Church Point.
Going into today's game, Lady Rams' head coach Gloria Fontenot said that the game in Iowa is not going to be easy. The smaller, but faster Lady Rams look to out-work Iowa on the boards.
"We are small and they are bigger than us and we do have a hard time getting those rebounds we need," said Fontenot. "We fight for them, but we do struggle with our size. We are going to change a little bit on (our defense).
"It's going to come down to getting those defensive rebounds and limiting their offensive rebounds. Meanwhile we still have to have enough energy to run the floor and run our game. I'm confident that they can do it, we just have to tweak some things."
Sophomore guard Kylie Goodeaux led the charge for Westlake in the fourth quarter of the loss to Church Point and Fontenot said that she would need to continue to be their shooter going into next year.
"About mid-season, she disappeared for a little while," said Fontenot. "She was getting points here and there, but she was capable of more. We kept telling her she had to shoot more. She's come around and is coming through here at the end."
Game time for the Lady Rams' game in Iowa is slated for 6 p.m.
Rams’ @ No. 14 Iowa
WESTLAKE-After picking up their first wins in nearly a month, the Westlake Rams will travel to No. 14 Iowa looking to steal a District 4-3A win away from the Yellow Jackets.
The Rams (9-18, 2-5) sit in fourth place in the district behind district leading No. 10 Crowley, Iowa, and Northwest.
Westlake head coach Doug Morris said that the Rams are going to have to play with the same effort like they did on Friday against Church Point when they picked up two wins against the Bears.
"The biggest key to this game is that we have to play hard like the last two games we won and we have to take care of the basketball," stated Morris. "If we do those two things we will be fine. If we don't, it might be a long night."
The Yellow Jackets (17-11, 5-2) are coming off a 57-47 road loss to Northwest on Friday. In their last game against the Rams on January 22nd, Iowa took a 61-28 victory in Westlake.
"They are athletic and quick and they are going to put pressure on us," Morris said on Iowa. "It's going to depend on how we handle the basketball. As long as we handle the ball, we can play with them. Their pressure is pretty tight and tough and we can't turn the ball over and be in the game. It's that easy."
Because the Yellow Jackets like to play an up-tempo game, one would think that the Rams would want to slow the game down. But Morris said that the Yellow Jackets force you into the up-tempo game with their half-court defense.
"It's a little tough when people are pressing you to actually slow down the game," Morris said. "They stay in the half-court press, so you have to take your chances when you can. You just have to make sure you take good chances. You have to make sure you take your open looks and don't try to force things.
"They are attacking you so you have to score. If you can score and get them out of it, then you can slow it down some. But you have to get them out of it and the only way is to score."
Game time is slated for approximately 7:15 p.m. following the Lady Rams season finale against Iowa.
Westlake, La. —
