Lady Cougars Hold on for 58-51 AMC Win at Roberts Wesleyan


	Lady Cougar Basketball Game Recap Lady Cougars Hold on for 58-51 AMC Win at Roberts Wesleyan written by Dave Parsons, Sports Information Director Game Boxscore ROCHESTER, N.Y. (1-29-2010) - The Mount Vernon Nazarene University women’s basketball team built a 19-point first-half lead and then survived 12.1 percent shooting from the field in the second half to post an important 58-51 American Mideast Conference victory at Roberts Wesleyan (N.Y.) College in the Voller Athletic Center on Friday night. The Lady Cougars (13-5, 6-4 AMC), who received a vote in the latest NAIA Division II poll, opened the game with a 16-3 run over the first seven minutes as junior guard Lauren Johnson buried a pair of three-pointers and made a layup for eight quick points and sophomore guard Sierra Fletcher (left) drained two treys of her own. After the host Lady Raiders (10-11, 4-7 AMC) pulled within 20-10 with 9:03 left in the half, MVNU used an 11-2 lead to build a seemingly comfortable 31-12 advantage with 4:45 left before the break. Fletcher scored the Lady Cougars’ final seven points of the first half as MVNU took a 38-21 lead to the locker room at the break. Fletcher led the Lady Cougars with 15 points, four assists, and four steals in the first half, while Johnson added 10 points. MVNU shot 34.1 percent from the field (14-for-41), 35.3 percent from three-point range (6-for-17), and made all four of its free throws. The Lady Cougars held a 24-22 rebounding advantage and forced 18 first-half turnovers. Marissa Bunce paced Roberts Wesleyan with six points and five rebounds in the first half, while Sarah Child added five points and six rebounds. The Lady Raiders shot 33.3 percent from the field (9-for-27), 28.6 percent from three-point range (2-for-7), and 50 percent at the free throw line (1-for-2). MVNU would need every bit of that halftime lead as the second half got under way. By the nine-minute mark, the Lady Raiders had trimmed the deficit to 46-37 on a three-pointer by Kelly Grinnell. Roberts Wesleyan continued to chip away at the lead as the Lady Raiders pulled within 51-45 on a layup by Brittany McMillon with 4:01 to go. Roberts Wesleyan had three field goal attempts and a free throw attempt over the next minute to close the gap even further, but the Lady Raiders failed to capitalize. From there, MVNU went 8-for-10 at the free throw line the rest of the way with Fletcher going 7-for-8 as the Lady Cougars prevailed 58-51 for the hard-fought victory. "Sometimes you win pretty and sometimes you win ugly,” said MVNU coach Steve Gregory. "The latter was the case for us tonight. After a good first half, the second half was one we would like to quickly forget about. More impressively, though, winning after shooting so bad in the second half took some work, but somehow we got it done.” "Everything seemed to head south on us in the second half - turnovers, perimeter shooting, and layups,” Gregory continued. "We just couldn’t get shots to fall for us in the second half. Fortunately, we had a great night of offensive rebounding, forcing turnovers, and hitting free throws. Getting a win on the road in conference is ultimately what is important.” Fletcher finished the game with 21 points despite going 4-for-26 from the field and 3-for-13 from three-point range. She converted 10-of-11 free throw attempts and also added seven rebounds, six steals, and five assists to fill out the stat sheet. Junior post Amanda Himes added a double-double of 15 points and 15 rebounds, and Johnson tossed in 10 points. Junior wing Kelli Pollock, junior forward Kellie Jokela, and freshman forward Emily Steveley each grabbed seven rebounds apiece to help MVNU to a 59-50 rebounding advantage. The Lady Cougars shot 24.3 percent from the field for the game (18-for-74) including going 4-for-33 in the second half (12.1 percent). MVNU also canned 25 percent of its three-pointers (6-for-24) and shot 76.2 percent at the free throw line (16-for-21). "Sierra and Amanda paced us tonight, while Lauren nailed a pair of big treys and had a couple of steals which helped the cause,” said Gregory. "Kellie (Jokela) and Emily extended possessions with big offensive rebounds, and Kelli (Pollock) also did a great job of getting to the offensive glass tonight.” McMillon led Roberts Wesleyan with a double-double of 12 points, 10 rebounds, and four blocked shots, while Child also had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. The Lady Raiders shot 32.8 percent from the field (21-for-64), 29.4 percent from three-point range (5-for-17), and 30.8 percent from the free throw line (4-for-13). MVNU will return to action on Saturday when the Lady Cougars travel to Houghton (N.Y.) College for another AMC game that will tip off at 2:00 p.m. "We’ll see another very good team tomorrow,” said Gregory. "We cannot afford any letdowns as we look to finish out the weekend strong.”

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