Published: December 09, 2007 01:38 pm         

Ford, ACM’s defense too much for Rockville, 63-47

CUMBERLAND — Melissa Ford scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds and Allegany College overcame a subpar offensive night with a strong defensive performance in beating Montgomery-Rockville, 63-47, in a Maryland JUCO Conference game Saturday at Bob Kirk Arena.

DeeDee Reese added 12 points and Kacey Kahl had nine points, seven rebounds and three steals for the Trojans (7-1 overall, 2-1 JUCO).

Allegany led 24-20 at halftime, then outscored Rockville 39-27 in the second half.

“It was a good win for us. We shot the ball poorly, but really stepped it up on defense,’’ said AC coach Jerry Rice. “We did a tremendous job on defense, maybe our best of the season thus far.”

Rockville’s Melissa Weithman was averaging nearly 20 points per game and Tyisha Moten 15. Both had just one field goal against the Trojans defense.

“Rockville has a really nice ballclub, with some really good athletes and scorers,’’ said Rice. “Our pressure disrupted them quite a bit. We need to try to be consistent defensively because you’re not always going to have a good offensive night. Tonight was one of those nights.”

Still, the Trojans had 21 assists, with Reese getting six, Blanks and Kahl five and Lindsay Holliday four.

“These players are really unselfish and we have good balance,’’ said Rice. “A different person seems to step up each game for us.”

Derica Dickson had a game-high 25 points for Rockville (4-4).

Allegany plays again Tuesday night at Pitt-Titusville.