MVNU (16-11, 4-9 AMC South), which has lost four games in the final seconds this year and has been in striking distance in the final five minutes in three other games before falling, jumped out to an early 10-2 lead as freshman forward Kellie Jokela (left) scored five quick points and junior guard Rachel Fiely added four points.

However, the Lady Cougars lost their shooting touch from their as MVNU missed its final nine three-point attempts of the half and shot just 15.2 percent from the field (5-for-33) in scoring seven points over the final 14:41. Meanwhile, the visiting Redwomen (21-6, 9-4 AMC South), who are ranked 24th in the latest NAIA Division II poll, closed the half on a 25-7 run to take a 27-17 advantage to the locker room at the break.

Freshman post Amanda Himes led the Lady Cougars with seven points and seven rebounds in the first half, while Jokela and Fiely added five points apiece. In addition to the poor field goal percentage, MVNU went just 1-for-10 from three-point range and 6-for-9 at the free throw line in the first half. The Lady Cougars did hold a slim 26-25 rebounding advantage.

Alix Pulley led Rio Grande with seven points, while Erin Kume, Britney Walker, and Leah Kendro tossed in six points apiece with Kume grabbing nine rebounds. The Redwomen shot 33.3 percent from the field (10-for-30), 50.0 percent from the free throw line (2-for-4), and 83.3 percent from the free throw line (5-for-6).

A jumper by Kendro extended Rio Grande’s lead to 29-17 to start the second half, but MVNU used a 16-5 run to close the gap to 34-33 by the 13:26 mark. Six straight points from junior post Melissa Mastrodonato (right) closed the surge, while Himes and junior guard Ashley Brown added four points apiece.

After the lead grew back to 42-37 in favor of the Redwomen, seven straight points by the Lady Cougars gave MVNU a 44-42 lead on Jokela’s second three-pointer of the game with 8:10 remaining in the game. The Lady Cougars had missed 13 consecutive three-point attempts since Jokela’s first trey of the game less than three minutes into the contest.

The game went back and forth over the next three minutes with Rio Grande holding a 50-49 advantage as the clock wound down to under five minutes remaining in the contest.

From that point on, MVNU went just 1-for-8 from the field and committed three turnovers as the Redwomen were able to finish the game on a 10-2 run to post the 60-51 victory.

“It’s a 40-minute game and unfortunately we have only been playing 30-35 minutes of it lately,” said MVNU head coach Steve Gregory. “By that, I mean we have gotten caught up in some serious offensive droughts. The first half we shot a meager 15 percent - making just five field goals. We started off strong with the 10-2 lead and then got stuck on 12 points for 7:15. It was a lengthy drought.”

“The second half was a much better half offensively,” said Gregory. “The problem was we had to dig our way out of the hole we put ourselves in down 10 at the break. Our three-point shooting has also disappeared over the past three games and we need to get it back quickly. Our defense kept us in the game, and we also out-rebounded (Rio Grande) tonight. We shot it well from the free throw line and we only had 16 turnovers to 18 for Rio Grande. The glaring stat was our lack of consistent three-point shooting.”

Himes (left) led MVNU with a game-high 17 points and a career-high 14 rebounds while going 8-for-21 from the field. Fiely added 12 points, five assists, and four steals, while Jokela had a solid game with eight points and seven rebounds. The Lady Cougars shot just 29.7 percent from the field (19-for-64), 10.5 percent from three-point range (2-for-19), and 73.3 percent from the free throw line (11-for-15). MVNU also posted a 44-42 rebounding advantage.

Kendro paced the Redwomen with 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting, while Walker added 15 points and was 7-for-7 from the free throw line. Pulley also scored 13 points, while Kume grabbed 14 rebounds to go with six points. Rio Grande shot 39.7 percent from the field (23-for-58), 37.5 percent from three-point range (3-for-8), and 78.6 percent from the free throw line (11-for-14).

“I love this group of girls,” said Gregory. “They are competing hard and have lost a lot of close games. We need to get our perimeter shooting confidence back and end the droughts much quicker before the postseason rolls around.”

MVNU will close out the regular season on Saturday with a 2:00 p.m. AMC South Division game at No. 19 Ohio Dominican University. Following that game, the Lady Cougars will turn their attention to the National Christian College Athletic Association East Region Tournament where they will wait to see who, where, and when they will play next.