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Lady Cougar Basketball Game Recap
Turnovers and Poor Shooting Dooms MVNU in
69-58 Loss
written by Dave Parsons, Sports Information Director
Game Boxscore
MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (1-19-2010) - The Mount
Vernon Nazarene University women’s
basketball team built an 11-point
second-half lead against NAIA Division II
No. 5 Cedarville University only to watch as
turnovers and poor shooting down the stretch
cost the Lady Cougars a chance at a big
upset as they fell 69-58 in American Mideast
Conference action in the Physical Education
Center on Tuesday night.
The first half was a low-scoring,
back-and-forth affair that featured three
ties and 10 lead changes before MVNU (10-5,
3-4 AMC) was able to match its biggest lead
of the half by taking a 28-23 lead to the
locker room at the break.
Sophomore guard Sierra Fletcher led the Lady
Cougars with eight points in the first half
including a three-pointer with five seconds
left before the break. Junior post Amanda
Himes added seven points and 11 rebounds,
while sophomore wing Alexis Harkins scored
five points. MVNU shot just 24.2 percent
from the field (8-for-33), 30 percent from
three-point range (3-for-10), and 64.3
percent from the free throw line (9-for-14).
 The
Lady Jackets (16-3, 7-1 AMC) was led by
Alison Lemon with eight points, while Aubrey
Siemon grabbed 11 rebounds. Cedarville shot
27.3 percent from the field (9-for-33), 15.4
percent from three-point range (2-for-13),
and 75 percent from the free throw line
(3-for-4).
After scoring the final five points of the
first half, the Lady Cougars opened the
second half with a 11-5 run to take a 39-28
lead on a three-pointer by junior forward
Kellie Jokela at the 15:36 mark. Junior wing
Kelli Pollock (left) also
nailed a trey, while Fletcher scored the
team’s first five points with a jumper and a
three-pointer of her own.
With MVNU holding a 41-30 advantage with
just over 15 minutes left, the Lady Jackets
went on a 14-2 run to regain the lead 44-43
with 10:33 to go. During that span, the Lady
Cougars committed eight turnovers and went
0-for-6 from the field with their only two
points coming on a pair of free throws by
freshman forward Emily Steveley.
Over the next five minutes, there were two
ties and four lead changes with Cedarville
regaining the lead for good at 50-49 on a
jumper by Lemon with 5:36 to play. That was
the start of a 21-9 run by the Lady Jackets
to end the game as MVNU went just 2-for-10
from the field the rest of the way, while
Cedarville was 8-for-13 from the free throw
line in addition to hitting six of its final
eight shots from the field to post the 69-58
victory.
"I am very disappointed that we couldn’t put
up a little better fight in the second
half,” said MVNU coach Steve Gregory.
"Neither team shot the ball well in the
first half and a fair term for the first 20
minutes would be a defensive duel by both
teams.”
"The second half was much different as we
made too many mistakes in the form of
turnovers,” said Gregory of the team’s 15
second-half miscues that led to 14
Cedarville points. "We virtually handed the
game away in the second stanza with poor
choices that led directly to transition
opportunities for Cedarville. I will give
them credit as they picked up the pace of
the game by coming at us with a 1-2-1-1 zone
press that we made too many mistakes
against. They were also effective with their
man half-court trapping defense.”
"They also effectively double-teamed Amanda
and made someone else have to step up and
make plays,” Gregory concluded.
"Unfortunately, we missed a lot of shots
tonight. I’ve got a very good group that we
have to exercise a little patience with due
to the learning process. They are making
progress and will continue to work hard to
do so.”
Fletcher finished with 18 points to lead the
Lady Cougars, while Pollock tossed in 10
points off the bench. Himes also contributed
nine points and 13 rebounds. MVNU shot 26.6
percent from the field for the game
(17-for-64), 27.3 percent from three-point
range (6-for-22), and 78.3 percent from the
charity stripe (18-for-23). The Lady Cougars
finished with 27 turnovers for the game.
Lemon led Cedarville with 21 points and
eight rebounds, while Siemon posted a
double-double with 14 points and 17
rebounds. Lydia Miller also contributed 11
points and eight rebounds. The Lady Jackets
shot 38.3 percent from the field
(23-for-60), 21.1 percent from three-point
range (4-for-19), and 73.1 percent from the
free throw line (19-for-26).
MVNU will return to action on Saturday when
the Lady Cougars will host the University of
Northwestern Ohio in another AMC game that
will tip off at 5:30 p.m.
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