Kimball Girls Stroll Over Bridgeport

It was apparent from the beginning that visiting Bridgeport hoped to smother the Longhorns’ versatile guard, Darbi Klinkhammer.

They double-teamed her inside the arc, the pressed her on the perimeter and held the prolific shooter to three attempts from the floor. But they forgot that Ken Smith’s squad possesses many weapons—and that Klinkhammer is just as happy piling up assists as she is scoring points.

In Saturday’s 52-29 shellacking of Bridgeport at The Arena, Shelby Vogel led the way with 15 points. Danika Daum and Taylor Wismer combined to tack 16 more on the board. And, in all, 10 Longhorns ended up in the scoring column.

“Our depth—that’s our strength,” Smith pointed out.

Wismer opened with a three from the top of the key. Moments later Vogel played the role of thief, stealing the ball and driving back down court for a lay in. Daum then drained a trey from the wing.

By the end of one, Kimball was already in command, 14-4.

“We knew they would want to bounce back from their loss last night,” Vogel said, referring to the Bulldogs’ heartbreaking 41-40 loss at Bayard on Friday. “We had to come out fast.”

If the Longhorns started in a sprint, they poured it on in the second quarter, hitting 80 percent of their shots from two-point range.

Daum kicked things off. Vogel then took a feed from Jessica Hanks and powered into the paint. Kelly Green recorded two scores, sandwiching a drive by Hanks. Tabitha Unzicker and Amber Kilgore also got into the action, the latter with an assist by Vogel.

By the halftime break, Kimball led 32-10.

Still, Bridgeport’s full court pressure caused problems all evening, forcing 19 Longhorns’ turnovers by the game’s end.

“They’re a good team—100 percent all the time,” Daum reported.

Unzicker, who endured first hand the Bulldogs’ physical inside play, agreed with Daum’s assessment.

“It was really hard,” she said of action around the post.

After registering 14 points in the first period and 18 in a torrid second, Kimball only reached double digits in the third thanks to back to back scores by Vogel and Unzicker as time ran down.

The Longhorns’ accuracy from the floor fell to 32 percent over the final 16 minutes.

“We played a very good first half and I think we relaxed,” Smith pointed out.

Bridgeport kept their poise in the final frame, putting a dozen on the board. Even in cruise mode, however, the Longhorns proved damaging. Brooke Hager hit a free throw, Wismer pounded in a couple of rare—for her—two-point shots. And Emily Poss drained one from three-point land.

“I don’t remember it,” Poss said with a laugh afterward. “I’m pretty sure my eyes were closed.”