By: Roy Valmores

The CLC women's basketball program lost 40 to 111 Nov. 10, bringing them a rough 0-4 start to their season.

After their loss to Milwaukee Area Technical College, the Lady Lancers will look to learn from this match and continue their growth as a program.

"We're just trying to get better," Head Coach Kyle Brokmeier said. "It's a process for us. We feel that if we keep working the wins and losses will take care of themselves."

With injuries slowing down many of the players, including key player Guard Sadie Contreras, this is a process that will require patience and time. There were signs that Contreras is still making her recovery, and that she will need a few more games to return to form.

Despite Contreras being the top scorer for the Lancers going into halftime, she was only two of eight from the field and one of five from behind the three-point line after two quarters. As this is a CLC team where a good portion of their success is dependent on her plays, she will have to return to form rather quickly.

"Sadie is off to a little bit of a slow start cause she was one of the players who missed a little bit due to injuries, but at the end of year last year Sadie was our best player," Brokmeier said. "When Sadie played well, then our team played well last year."

Contreras's contributions were missed. This was a Lancer team that looked slow out of the gate, while the MATC Stormers were able to apply a solid defense early on.

Going into the half the Stormers had already tallied 20 forced turnovers, 4 blocks and 10 steals, with much of their offensive scoring being led behind Guard Moriah Begin's 20 points.

This heavily-applied defense forced CLC to a mere 17 percent from the field. Along with this poor shot percentage, MATC was also able to out-rebound CLC 71 to 45.

Although their season is off to a rough start, the team is still in the midst of a building process—a process that already look promising when compared to last year.

"We're trying to build things up here," Brokmeier said. "Last year we didn't have much of a roster. This year the roster is better. It's a work in progress, but we're on the right path."

Proof of this improved roster and good path is clear to see, especially in the plays of Guard Raven Nicoline.

While she shared the same scoring woes as Contreras, her 67 percent from the free throw line propelled her to lead all Lancer scorers with 14 points. Even with her play, MATC's defense continued to hound this CLC squad.

This forced Nicoline into many situations where MATC's full-court pressure didn't allow her to push the ball up the court, resulting in 11 turnovers.

CLC will look to clean up their offense and defense throughout the season ahead.