Now more than halfway through the season the Lady Sand Devils have improved to 13 wins, four losses. They added two fresh Ws to the win-loss column last week, defeating the Warriors 65-43 on Thursday, and the Ganado Hornets 53-38 on Saturday.

It took some time for the Lady Sand Devils to settle into the game Saturday afternoon. While the Sand Devils were gathering themselves, the Hornets took an early 5-0 lead. Senior Meagan Fuller broke the seal for the Sand Devils five minutes into the game, and on the ensuing Ganado possession she stole the ball from them at mid-court, threaded her way through defenders as she brought the ball back to the Sand Devils basket, and with two defenders crowding her in the paint, dished it off to Mikala Bennaly who hit the lay-up.

Freshman Miquedah Taliman followed that with a three-point shot, giving the Sand Devils their first lead of the game. Fuller again stole the ball from the Hornets, this time taking it all the way to the basket for two more points. Junior post player, Camryn Nockideneh, finished the quarter hitting two free throws. Despite their slow start the varsity girls led 11-5 at the end of the first quarter and from that point on steadily increased their lead.

The Lady Sand Devils play an aggressive, always-in-you-face defense. They apply constant, full-court pressure throughout the duration of the game – something they have done – all season – which results in several additional turnovers per game. On the other end, they play a patient circle offense. The circle usually begins with the point guard, who tries to find an opening in the defense. If she is unsuccessful, she passes it to one of the wingmen, either on her right or left and they then bring the ball across the front of their opponent’s defense, trying to get a stop on their defender as well as looking for post players getting free underneath. It works more often than it doesn’t.

Another noticeable improvement is their team play. They have now played enough games together that they can anticipate their team mates moves and actions.  A telling testament to the Sand Devils gelling as a team is their scoring patterns. The scoring is usually spread quite evenly among five or six players. For instance, in Saturday’s game against Ganado, Amy Yellowman was the leading scorer with 11 points, followed by Meagan Fuller with nine. Myka Taliman, Miquedah Taliman, Mikala Benally and Camryn Nockideneh each had eight points.

Since their talent is well distributed, it takes away their opponents’ ability to pay special attention guarding a single, high-producing player.

A second big component  of the varsity team’s success comes from their key players getting more comfortable on the court and playing in front of a crowd. Myka Taliman, who has been the Sand Devils starting point guard for three years now, is confident and comfortable on the court, as is Mikala Bennaly, who came into her own midway through the season last year. In recent games the confidence and gametime comfort levels of Amy Yellowman, Neve Redhair, Diana Secody, Camryn Nockideneh, Meagan Fuller and Torrance Begay has also improved noticeably since the beginning of the season, and that will play a big factor in the post-season when they’ll play in front of some very big and boisterous crowds.
The younger sister of Myka Taliman, Miquedah Taliman, though just a freshman, plays with an unbelievable level of calm, confidence and natural talent not usually seen in someone so young.

The Lady Sand Devils led 27-17 going into halftime and finished the game with a 53-38 win.

They travel to Window Rock Saturday, followed by Tuba City the following Tuesday. Their next home game is Thursday Jan. 24 against Monument Valley.