The visiting Lady Cougars (4-1) built a 44-25 halftime lead behind 11 first-half points each from junior guard Rachel Fiely (left) and junior center Melissa Mastrodonato. MVNU shot 48.6 percent from the field (17-for-35), 53.8 percent from three-point range (7-for-13), and 50.0 percent from the free throw line (3-for-6) in building its lead. The Lady Cougars also forced 11 first-half turnovers and held a slim 21-19 rebounding advantage.

Shontale Wells and Elisha Hardy both scored 10 first-half points to pace Tennessee Temple, which shot just 28.6 percent from the field (8-for-28), 33.3 percent from three-point range (3-for-9), and 85.7 percent from the free throw line (6-for-7).

MVNU blew the game wide open at the beginning of the second half when the Lady Cougars started the second half with a 29-0 run to take a commanding 73-25 advantage before Phyllissa Wooley made a basket at the 9:30 mark for the Lady Crusaders’ first two points of the second half.

Even with MVNU’s bench playing the final nine minutes of the contest, the Lady Cougars cruised to a convincing 96-40 victory to claim the tournament title.

Freshman post Amanda Himes (right) led MVNU with 20 points and 11 rebounds off the bench as she went 10-for-15 from the field. Fiely finished with 16 points and six assists as she went 4-for-8 from three-point range. Mastrodonato and freshman guard Kelli Pollock each scored 11 points with Mastrodonato grabbing nine rebounds, and senior forward Amy Sebastian added 10 points and eight rebounds. Freshman guard Lauren Johnson tossed in nine points off the bench, while freshman forward Kellie Jokela (5 points), freshman guard Kim BeVier (5 points), sophomore guard Lindsay Stein (4 points), freshman guard Kassy Workinger (3 points), and junior guard Bethany Hughes (2 points) each got in the scoring column as the MVNU bench out-scored the Tennessee Temple reserves 54-4.

The Lady Cougars shot 47.5 percent from the field (38-for-80) for the game, 46.2 percent from three-point range (12-for-26), and 57.1 percent from the free throw line (8-for-14). MVNU posted a commanding 53-37 rebounding advantage, and the Lady Cougars forced 27 turnovers while committing just 10 miscues themselves.

Hardy and Wells, who both had 10 points at halftime, finished with that same total to lead the Lady Crusaders. Stephanie Lovett added eight points, while Gabrielle Rice grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds. Tennessee Temple shot just 24.0 percent from the field (12-for-50) for the game including just 4-for-22 in the second half (18.2 percent). The Lady Crusaders also went 3-for-12 from three-point range (25.0 percent) and 13-for-23 from the free throw line (56.5 percent).

“This was a great effort from our girls today,” said MVNU head coach Steve Gregory. “We really put things together on both ends of the floor and did a much better job of finishing around the basket. Everyone contributed as they came into the game, and there was no drop off.”

“Amanda really had a nice game for us down low,” said Gregory. “She and Melissa gave us a nice presence inside. Rachel did a nice job of running the offense for us when she was in there and she hit four big three-pointers. This was another good team win.”

MVNU will return to action on Tuesday when the Lady Cougars will host the University of Northwestern Ohio in a non-conference game at 5:30 p.m.