Cowgirls bounce back from recent loss in triumph over Jaguars

Olivia Cooper

Coppell senior guard Jules Lamendola drives through the Flower Mound defense during the third quarter in the CHS Arena on Friday. The Cowgirls won 49-40.

Nathan Cheng, Staff Writer

The Coppell girl’s basketball team suffered its first loss of the season against Plano East, ending its 29 game win streak last Wednesday. But despite this recent loss, the Cowgirls rebounded against Flower Mound on Friday at the CHS Arena, winning 49-40. 

“We used to get run down in the fourth quarter, but now we can actually wear the other teams down first.” Coppell senior guard Julianna Lamendola said. “[Our new strength program] has definitely given us an edge over other teams.” 

Lamendola describes that the new strength program, dubbed “Camp Tran” by the players, has allowed the Cowgirls to stay competitive and energetic, giving them an advantage during the latter half of the game. It also has allowed the Cowgirls to come back from a trailing performance, as it did in the second quarter, which began with the Cowgirls down 13-11. 

“We weren’t playing well in the first quarter but we got back into it.” Lamendola said. “We were good at bouncing back.” 

The Cowgirls were also noted to have exhibited a great tactical defense, allowing them to find the opposing offensive players and swiftly block shots. 

“We did a very good job finding their shooters and when we could find them, everything just fell into place,” Coach Willis Tran said. 

Tran has also advanced the new strength program as a major determining factor in Friday’s win as well as the Cowgirls’ exceptional play throughout the season.

“We’ve been doing a lot more weights.” Tran said. “I can just see that we are a lot stronger than we were last year. We really don’t wear out as quickly.”

The Cowgirls hope to regain their momentum after their recent loss in the next few games which will take place against Plano, Plano West and Flower Mound Marcus. 

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