The Chicago Condors flight plan was grounded in their second home game against the San Jose Lasers due to turnovers and the Condors’ inability to score from the field. The final score of the Condors’ loss on Nov. 20, before a crowd of 4, 060 at the UIC Pavilion, was 68-78.

At the half, the Condors were down by six, 36-29. The starting lineup in the first quarter (minus injured guard Cathy Boswell) was 6-for-6 from the line, but forward Adrienne Goodson was 0-for-5 from the field and couldn’t land her two attempted three-pointers. The only starter able to have any success in the first quarter was guard Deanna Tate who was 1-for-1 from the field and 2-for-2 from the line. Center Yolanda “Yo-Yo” Griffith played for the duration of the first half and was 1-for-4 in the first quarter and 2-for-6 in the second quarter. Fellow starter guard E.C. Hill wasn’t able to connect many of her shots either, going 0-for-2 in the first quarter and 3-for-7 in the second. By the end of the first half, the Condors had 16 turnovers and were only shooting 28 percent from the field. The score at half time was 53-53.

Condors head coach Jim Cleamons said, as he reflected on the stats from the fourth quarter, “The two things that keep coming back to haunt us are, if you look at the turnovers, we still had 20 turnovers and we still shot 32 percent. So when you don’t shoot the ball better than 32 percent and you don’t take care of the ball with 20 turnovers there are very few good things that can happen.” Cleamons added that as the team learns to grow and learns to play together, these are two areas that hopefully will take care of themselves.

“I think the one thing that has to happen as we go though this period is learning on the fly, and learning how to use our personnel,” said Cleamons. He commented on the absence of Boswell and her leadership capabilities by saying that they miss a player that knows when to pull the trigger and understand certain situations. “We’re trying to compensate on a lot of different fronts right now,” he said. In the meantime, while Boswell is recovering from minor knee surgery, the Condors have Kristy Ryan as a replacement player. Ryan has been on the international circuit playing in Germany. Recently-signed Joanne McCarthy didn’t get any court time even with her famous sister Jenny sitting courtside. Jenny said it was her first ABL game and she thought the game was wonderful. Hill said she would rather lose games early in the season than lose them later on.

Tausha Mills, who shot well from the line said, “We’re a young team as far as everybody playing together and the chemistry is there with one another, but it’s not there as far as the up and down play.”

Lasers head coach Angela Beck said, “I think they did great job offensively on the boards-they did a great defensively too…I think they kept the point total down. We’re the number one or two offensive scoring team in our league. We didn’t get there tonight so I think for a growing franchise they’re doing a lot of good things.”

Beck added, “It’s a big victory for us to get two in a row on the road. Our starters played steadily all night and we were able to take advantage of a few mismatches in the game. I think we have better chemistry right now, but I’m scared when they get it because they’re going to be good…I thought our execution was just a tinge better.”

Things didn’t get any better on Nov. 21, as the Condors landed in Philadelphia and chalked up another disappointing loss. Hopefully the Condors can regroup their flight plan and better their 1-5 record.