Getting comfortable

Salem CC women: Freshman post settling into her position, life away from home, enjoys career day against Lehigh Carbon

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – Being so far from home and on her own for the first time in her life, Salem CC freshman Akira Chambers admitted her first couple months at school were “scary, shaky and nervous.”

But as she’s slowly settled into her new environment and gotten more comfortable on a higher level of basketball she put all that emotional excess behind her for the first time Saturday and came out of it closer to the player she and the Mighty Oaks want her to be.

The 5-foot-11 post from Cleburne, Texas — one of five Texans on the roster – scored a lifetime high 21 points and gave the Mighty Oaks the reliable post presence coach Brian Marsh has been looking for in an easy 85-36 win over Lehigh Carbon at DuPont Fieldhouse.

“Most people know that I’m from Texas,” Chambers said. “I think one of the biggest things today was knowing that I had my family at home watching and supporting me; they couldn’t be here today. I have a big support system already here with my coach, my team, my family.

“One of the things today was just to go out there and play hard, play like I know how to play basketball. I’m at a higher level, it’s time to go up and change and do what I’m supposed to do to help my team to help me out more. I think my biggest goal today was just get out and play and have fun.

“I can definitely say today I let loose way more than I have any other game. I finally came back out.”

Chambers was ready from the jump. She had scored only 15 points in the Mighty Oaks’ first two games, but had that many in the first half Saturday on 7-for-8 shooting. She had eight of the Oaks’ first 12 points.

She couldn’t remember having a 20-point game in high school. With the help of her big outing Saturday she is averaging 12 points and five rebounds through her first three college games, and gives the Mighty Oaks that aggressive, athletic post they were sorely missing last season.

“I’ve really been working with her,” Marsh said. “I’ve been in higher ed a long time so I try to tell people the first semester is always the hardest. You’re always from your home, away from your parents; that’s why we try to be family here, but it’s hard. I always tell them to get through that first semester.

“What we’ve been working on with Akira is I always used to use basketball as therapy. It’s two hours where you just forget everything. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell her. It’s two hours, don’t worry about it. Thanksgiving break’s coming up, I give them two weeks off for Christmas, so you’re getting to the end of it, getting closer to home.

“It’s been hard on her, I’ll be really honest, but she’s doing a really good job of dealing with it. Our team is really close-knit, so I think that’s helped and I think she’s just been really working on herself just to play basketball.”

The game was full of gaudy numbers. Their 49-point margin was their largest margin of victory since reviving the women’s program last year; they only beat the Cougars by three last season. Their 93 shots and 29 assists were the most since bringing back the program.

Ten of the 11 Mighty Oaks who played scored and the only who didn’t, Geo Tjaden, came within one assist of a backdoor double-double (10 rebounds, nine assists). Nyiajah Jackson was their second-leading scorer with 18 points.

It wasn’t just on the offensive end. The Oaks forced Lehigh Carbon into 34 turnovers and held it to six points in each the second and third quarters. Their 19 steals tied their post-revival high and their 48 rebounds were the second-most since bringing back the program. 

Marsh would place it “in the top three” defensive efforts in his two-year tenure with the program.

“We wanted to go out and play aggressive man defense and as I’ve been saying really utilize our length and our athleticism,” Marsh said.

SALEM CC 85, LEHIGH CARBON 36
LEHIGH CARBON (1-3) – Jacksymerth Martinez 1-15 0-2 3, Emily Sebastian 8-12 4-6 20, Sarah Hope 2-7 0-0 4, Julianna Bowen 2-3 0-0 4, Maddy Taylor 1-4 0-2 2, Morgan Ritchie 1-5 0-0 3, Bronwyn McKee 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 15-48 4-10 36.
SALEM CC (3-0) – Maggie St. Clair 4-9 0-0 8, Dani Gustin 2-5 1-2 5, Kathryn Laurence 3-5 0-0 7, Jakayla Jenkins 2-3 0-0 4, Akira Chambers 9-14 3-6 21, RayNescia King 2-11 1-2 5, Nyaijah Jackson 9-12 0-0 18, Geo Tjaden 0-9 0-0 0, Jolee Robinson 2-7 0-0 4, Imara James 4-7 0-0 8, Alexa Hopkins 2-11 0-0 5. Totals 39-93 5-10 85.

Lehigh Carbon	10	6	6	14-	36
Salem CC	25	24	20	16-	85

3-point goals: Lehigh Carbon 2-8 (Martinez 1-4, Sebastian 0-1, Hope 0-1, Ritchie 1-2); Salem CC 2-16 (St. Clair 0-1, Laurence 1-2, King 0-1, Jackson 0-1, Tjaden 0-4, James 0-1, Hopkins 1-6). Rebounds: Lehigh Carbon 35 (Taylor 14, Hope 6); Salem CC 48 (Tjaden 10, Robinson 8, Jenkins 6). Technical fouls: James. Total fouls: Lehigh Carbon 12, Salem CC 14.