The Lady Cougars (3-0) got off to a good start in the game as they jumped out to a 9-2 lead over the first three minutes as sophomore center Amanda Himes scored four points and senior guard Rachel Fiely (left) added a three-point play.

With MVNU in front 13-6, the visiting Yellow Jackets (1-1) rattled off six straight points to pull within 13-12 at the 12:43 mark on a jumper by Shavonda Price.

The lead grew back to 19-12 on a layup by Himes with 10:40 left before the half. That basket proved to be historic as Fiely became the Lady Cougars’ all-time assist leader on the play with the 412th assist of her career to pass the mark set by former MVNU standout Mia Dallas from 1985-1988.

After that basket, Defiance went on a 13-5 run to take its first lead of the game 25-24 with 6:46 left before the break. Price led the comeback with four points, while Molly Bateman nailed the Yellow Jackets only three-pointer of the first half.

From there, the game went back and forth until the halftime buzzer with Fiely’s steal and layup with 19 seconds to go sending the teams to the locker rooms with the score knotted at 35-35.

Himes led the Lady Cougars with 14 points in the first half, while Fiely added eight points. MVNU shot 36.8 percent from the field (14-for-38), 16.7 percent from three-point range (1-for-6), and 60.0 percent from the free throw line (6-for-10).

Jenna Deskins paced Defiance with eight first-half points off the bench, while Amber Bailey grabbed nine rebounds to helped the Yellow Jackets to a 26-23 edge in that category. Defiance shot 41.5 percent from the field (17-for-41), 11.1 percent from three-point range, and did not attempt a free throw.

The Lady Cougars roared out to start the second half as senior guard Ashley Brown and Fiely each drained a three-pointer and freshman forward Alexis Harkins added a jumper to put MVNU in front 43-35 less than two minutes into the final period.

A layup and three-pointer by sophomore forward Kellie Jokela and another trey by Fiely extended the lead to 51-41 at the 14:30 mark.

From there, the closest that the Yellow Jackets would get the rest of the way would be 58-52 with 9:14 to play on a three-point play by Holly Stein. Meanwhile, the Lady Cougars built their biggest lead less than four minutes later when a jumper by Himes (right) at the 5:30 mark capped off an 11-0 run that propelled MVNU to a 69-52 cushion.

The Lady Cougars held on from that point with at least a 10-point lead the rest of the way in posting the 77-63 victory to remain unbeaten in three games on the season. The team shot 53.3 percent from the field (16-for-30) in the final 20 minutes while limiting Defiance to just 31.0 percent shooting (9-for-29) during the same timeframe.

“Our team really broke out and played with much better intensity in the second half,” said MVNU coach Steve Gregory. “Our defense went from being average in the first half to outstanding in the second half. We took much better care of the ball in the second stanza and we finally broke out of our offensive slump by shooting the ball with great balance inside and out with tremendous precision.”

“Our fastbreak was also much better in the second half,” continued Gregory. “I felt like we were running uphill in the first half and downhill in the second half. Our decision-making was also a lot better. However, our free throw shooting must get better!”

Fiely and Himes both finished with 21 points apiece with Fiely dishing out a season-high nine assists and Himes grabbing 11 rebounds and blocking four shots. Brown added 10 points, while senior guard Jessica Lynn tossed in seven points off the bench. Senior center Melissa Mastrodonato also contributed six points and seven rebounds in a reserve role. MVNU shot 44.1 percent from the field (30-for-68), 35.7 percent from three-point range (5-for-14), and 52.2 percent from the free throw line (12-for-23).

“I am very proud of Rachel and her accomplishments over the past four years,” said Gregory of his senior point guard who now has 420 career assists to go with 1,105 career points, 232 career steals, and 400 career rebounds. “She broke the assist record tonight and did it in style. Her leadership was the key for us tonight. She controlled the tempo, she hit open shots, and she found open players with good, solid passes. It was nothing flashy - just good, old-fashioned finding the open person and hitting them with great passes.”

“Amanda had another double-double and was very good on both ends of the floor,” Gregory added. “She helped influence several of their shots which translated into transition offense for us. We also got quality minutes out of our bench with Lauren (Johnson), Jessica, Bethany (Hughes), and Melissa all contributing to an outstanding effort against a quality team.”

Defiance had four players in double figures led by Tasha Stucke with 12 points. Deskins, Price, and Bailey added 10 points apiece with Bailey grabbing a game-high 16 rebounds to go with four blocked shots. The Yellow Jackets shot 37.1 percent from the field (26-for-70), 15.4 percent from three-point range (2-for-13), and 69.2 percent from the free throw line (9-for-13).

The Lady Cougars will return to action on Friday at 6:00 p.m. when MVNU will square off with Thiel (Pa.) College in the first round of the Bluffton College Tournament.