[August 12, 2016]: The Blue Diamonds VS team finished the final week of the summer 2016 PSA season by splitting a two game series with the Murphy Mustangs. In the first game, played on Tuesday, the Diamonds were overwhelmed by the full court pressure of the Mustangs, losing 38-17. However, in the second game, played on Friday, the Diamonds showed the heart of a champion and were able avenge the loss with a 25-18 victory in what was perhaps their finest performance of the season. Game recaps below.

MUSTANGS 38, BLUE DIAMONDS 17
From the start, the Diamonds were caught off guard by the intense full court defensive pressure and aggressiveness of the Mustangs and fell behind 13-3 after one quarter. Too many turnovers limited the number of scoring opportunities and kept the Diamonds from establishing any sort of offensive rhythm. On the other end of the floor, the Diamonds struggled in man-to-man defense staying in front of the quick and crafty Mustang guards. It was a long evening but the Diamond girls started to figure it out, albeit too late for this game.

Malynn (6 points, 3 rebounds and 1 blocked shot) lead the Diamonds in scoring while Aashika (10 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks) fought very hard inside to try to stem the tide.

BLUE DIAMONDS 25, MUSTANGS 18
The Diamonds set the tone early, letting the Mustangs know that this game would be entirely different from the first. In this game, the Diamond girls showed what they learned in how to break an aggressive full court press. Excellent passing by the guards to push the ball up court allowed the Diamonds to attack the basket in transition and put the Mustangs in foul trouble early. Defensively, the Diamonds used a zone defense and strong rebounding to mostly limit the Mustangs to just one shot attempt per possession. Every time the Mustangs started to make the game close, the Diamonds had an answer.

Malynn (8 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocked shots) had an excellent all-around game on 67 percent shooting from the floor and proved that the Mustangs had no answer for her on either side of the court. The rest of the Blue Diamonds also gave an outstanding effort, including Janet (7 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals 1 assist and 1 blocked shot); Aashika (6 rebounds, 2 poitns, 2 steals and 3 blocked shots) and Aliya (5 points, 3 rebounds and 3 steals).