The Lady Cougars (10-1) scored the first 16 points of the game before the visiting Celtics (2-7) finally went 1-for-2 at the free throw line at the 14:25 mark in the first half. Freshman center Amanda Himes (left), who was making her first career start, led the early surge with nine points, while junior guard Rachel Fiely added five points.

MVNU’s lead grew to 28-3 until Carlow finally made its first field goal of the game when Traci Ferrari hit a jumper at the 6:07 mark to make the score 28-5 and end an 0-for-16 shooting drought for the Celtics to start the game.

The Lady Cougars toyed with breaking the record for fewest points allowed in a half as the score stood at 51-7 until Heidi Hollingsworth nailed a three-pointer with 19 seconds remaining to make it 51-10 at the break as Carlow avoided breaking the dubious mark of only eight points allowed.

Himes led MVNU with 15 first-half points and six rebounds as she went 7-for-11 from the field. Fiely added 11 points, five rebounds, and three assists, and junior guard Jessica Lynn tossed in seven points. Freshman forward Kellie Jokela also grabbed seven rebounds, and the Lady Cougars held a 30-16 rebounding advantage at the break. MVNU shot 54.1 percent from the field (20-for-37), 20.0 percent from three-point range (3-for-15), and 72.7 percent from the free throw line (8-for-11).

Carlow shot just 11.1 percent from the field in the first half (3-for-27), 16.7 percent from three-point range (1-for-6), and 37.5 percent from the free throw line (3-for-8). Hollingsworth led the team with three points as five different players scored.

The second half proved to be a much more even half as the Celtics went 8-for-15 from three-point range (53.3 percent) and hit on 46.9 percent of their shots from the field overall (15-for-32). However, Carlow could only manage to get as close as 56-21 at the 17:12 mark, and the Lady Cougars twice led by as much as 51 points as MVNU out-scored the Celtics 48-45 in the second half to win the game 99-55.

Himes led the way for the Lady Cougars with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Fiely added 17 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and five steals. Jokela (right) just missed a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds, and Lynn tallied 11 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Freshman guard Lauren Johnson tossed in nine points off the bench, and freshman guard Kim BeVier finished with seven points. Freshman wing Kelli Pollock posted six points and eight rebounds in her first career start, while junior guard Bethany Hughes finished with six points, five assists, four steals, and nine rebounds. Freshman forward Jackie Albrecht and sophomore guard Lindsay Stein also totaled five points apiece.

MVNU shot 52.1 percent from the field for the game (37-for-71), 33.3 percent from three-point range (9-for-27), and 69.6 percent from the free throw line (16-for-23). The Lady Cougars also posted a commanding 54-31 rebounding advantage and forced 26 turnovers.

Sarah McAteer led Carlow with 12 points, while Christina Costa tossed in 11 points. Lauren Roscoe finished with 10 points, and Jacqueline Muir contributed eight points, four rebounds, and four blocked shots. The Celtics shot 30.5 percent from the field (18-for-59), 42.9 percent from three-point range (9-for-21), and 58.8 percent from the free throw line (10-for-17).

MVNU will take a week off for final exams before closing out the first semester with a non-conference game at the University of Northwestern Ohio next Saturday at 2:00 p.m. In that game, the Lady Cougars will be looking to match their entire win total from all of last year when the team went 11-17.