Waubonsie Valley defense flusters Joliet Twp.

You won't get any arguments from Joliet Township coach Roger Plechaty about Waubonsie Valley's high sectional seeding.

Not after his Steelwomen traveled to Aurora on Wednesday and got blasted 59-27 by a Warriors squad that put on a defensive clinic that not only shut down the visitors but also led to numerous transition baskets for the 20-2 Warriors.

"We knew we were in for a tough fight, but I thought we'd take better care of the basketball," said Plechaty, whose squad had 21 turnovers in the first half while trailing 34-7 at the intermission. "We had big-time turnovers, but that's a credit to their defense. They didn't get the No. 2 seed for no reason."

There were a lot of reasons Waubonsie won on Wednesday, but its trapping defense was at the top of the list. Joliet (6-17) had 9 turnovers in the first quarter and trailed 16-0 before Adjoa Matthews finally got her team on the board with a 3-pointer with 24 seconds left in the opening period.

"Our goal was to pick up the intensity on defense and get them all mixed up," said Warriors guard Becky Williford, who led all scorers with 15 points but also had a pair of steals. "It mainly worked out because we were talking out there and communicating on the court."

While the Warriors defense was making life difficult on the Steelwomen, Tami Morice was draining a trio of 3-pointers in the first half and Williford and Keiera Ray were converting their share of Joliet turnovers into layups on the other end.

"We wanted to hustle and play our hardest," said Morice, who echoed Williford's thoughts on the importance of picking up the defense with the state series approaching. "It was a team effort tonight, and we're real excited about the playoffs, so we're focusing on preparing for them."

The Warriors led 45-15 after three quarters and coach Kim Connell was able to go to her bench early and often. Fourteen Waubonsie players saw action and 11 of them scored, including 7 points apiece off the bench from both Nia Williams and Rachael Ross.

"We knew they were not very tall - not that we're all that tall - and usually we can cause some trouble against teams that we're at least as tall as," Connell said. "We thought maybe we could do some things with our trapping man defense tonight and we did."

That they did, as Joliet finished the night with more turnovers (32) than points scored. Erica Jordan had a solid night for the hosts while scoring just 5 points, as she came away with 4 steals played a big role in the Steelwomen shooting just 2 of 17 in the first half.