MVNU (14-6, 2-4 AMC South) jumped out to a 14-4 lead by the 15:40 mark of the first half as freshman forward Kellie Jokela scored five quick points and junior center Melissa Mastrodonato added four points.

After the visiting Blue Knights (11-6, 3-3 AMC South) pulled within 20-15 as Tia Simms led an 11-5 surge with seven points, the Lady Cougars answered with a 12-6 run to expand their lead to 32-21 with 5:17 left before halftime as junior guard Rachel Fiely (left) and freshman guard Lauren Johnson each drilled a three-pointer.

From there, Urbana was able to pull within 37-30 at the break as Jessica Byrd scored five points and Simms and Sarah Branham each added two points apiece.

Freshman post Amanda Himes led MVNU with 12 first-half points as she went 5-for-6 from the field. Jokela added seven points, while Mastrodonato tossed in six points. Junior guard Ashley Brown also contributed five assists and four rebounds. The Lady Cougars shot 57.1 percent from the field (16-for-28), 42.9 percent from three-point range (3-for-7), and just 40.0 percent at the free throw line (4-for-10).

Simms paced the Blue Knights with nine points, while Enisia Curry tossed in eight points to go with four rebounds. Urbana shot 48.1 percent from the field (13-for-27), 20.0 percent from three-point range (1-for-5), and 60.0 percent at the free throw line (3-for-5).

After a layup by Brown (right) pushed MVNU’s lead to 39-30 to start the second half, the Blue Knights scored six unanswered points to close within 39-36 with 16:29 left in the game.

At that point, the Lady Cougars used a 16-8 run to increase their lead to 55-44 with 8:59 remaining in the game as Fiely, Jokela, Johnson, and junior guard Jessica Lynn each nailed three-pointers.

The lead was short-lived, though, as Urbana caught fire and went on a 16-2 run to take its only lead of the game 60-57 on a layup by Byrd with 4:38 to play. Simms scored eight points to fuel the comeback, while Haley Fannon added five points.

A free throw by freshman wing Kelli Pollock brought MVNU within 60-58 and two consecutive offensive rebounds by Brown off of missed three-point attempts resulted in a trey by Fiely on the third try as the Lady Cougars regained the lead 61-60 with 2:39 still on the clock.

The two teams combined to miss their next five shot attempts and Fiely was fouled with 29.5 seconds remaining. She calmly hit both free throws to push the lead to 63-60.

After a turnover by the Blue Knights, Himes was fouled with 19 seconds to go and made both of her free throws as the lead grew to 65-60. A three-pointer by Fannon with less than one tenth of a second remaining accounted for the 65-63 final score.

“What a tremendous effort by our players tonight,” said MVNU head coach Steve Gregory. “I am very excited for them in the way that they earned a win tonight against a very good team.”

“We talked in our timeout after they took a three-point lead that we still had to go out and make one play at a time,” Gregory added. “We battled for a possession in which we grabbed two offensive rebounds and the final kick-out to Rachel for a three-pointer that gave us a one-point lead. From there, outstanding defense that consisted of forced turnovers, solid defensive rebounds, and a tremendous charge that was taken by Kellie (Jokela) on one of Urbana’s final possessions.”

“Offensively, Rachel drilled a pair of free throws in a one-and-one situation as did Amanda that allowed us to build a commanding five-point cushion with 19 seconds left,” continued Gregory. “There is tremendous parity in this conference where anybody can win on a given night.”

Himes (left) finished with 18 points and five rebounds off the bench to lead the Lady Cougars as she went 7-for-10 from the field. Fiely added 13 points, four rebounds, and four assists, and Jokela tallied 12 points and five rebounds. Brown grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and dished out a career-high eight assists, and Johnson and Mastrodonato both contributed six points apiece with Johnson also handing out five assists. MVNU shot 42.9 percent from the field (24-for-56) as the Lady Cougars held on despite shooting just 28.6 percent from the field in the second half (8-for-28). MVNU also shot 34.8 percent from three-point range (8-for-23), and 69.2 percent from the free throw line (9-for-13). The Lady Cougars out-rebounded Urbana 36-30 with 16 offensive rebounds.

The Blue Knights were led by Simms with a game-high 21 points and eight rebounds. Fannon added 16 points and five assists, and Curry finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. Urbana shot 45.8 percent from the field (27-for-59), 30.0 percent from three-point range (3-for-10), and 66.7 percent from the free throw line (6-for-9).

MVNU will return to action on Tuesday when the Lady Cougars will host No. 16 Ohio Dominican University in another conference contest that will tip off at 5:30 p.m.