Menlo’s varsity girls basketball team defeated Sacred Heart Prep 59-40 at home on Tuesday, Feb. 9. This marks the Knight’s second win against the Gators as they beat them in mid-January 51-38.

Senior Karen Xin led the team with 19 points, while sophomore Ava Allen and senior Ruiqi Liu followed with 16 and 13 points, respectively. Allen added three steals and Liu contributed six rebounds.

The Knights kept a steady lead from the start. “[The game] went really well,” Allen said. “We put in a lot of work this week in practice, [implemented] a new defense and I think we executed it really well in the game.” However, Allen believes the team can touch up their offense.

In honor of National Girls and Women’s in Sports Day, which was on Feb. 5, Menlo Middle School girls basketball players scrimmaged during halftime of the varsity girls game and cheered on the team throughout the game. “Being able to play on this day is a big step for us in women in sports, and having that crowd there to support us was really meaningful.”

However, the boys’ game, which was played right after, had a significantly larger number of fans. “There’s definitely more that can be done,” Allen said. However, Allen is thankful for the fans who showed up for the girls game. “There could have been no one [at our game] so I’m really glad that some of our students came.”

The win keeps the team in a third-place tie with Notre Dame San Jose and Notre Dame Belmont in the West Bay Athletic League Foothill Division. The Knights look to finish league play strong with games against Woodside Priory School and NDSJ before beginning their Central Coast Section playoffs run in hopes of a four-peat.