Lady Cougars Turn Houghton Turnovers into 75-63 AMC Win


	Lady Cougar Basketball Game Recap Lady Cougars Turn Houghton Turnovers into 75-63 AMC Win written by Dave Parsons, Sports Information Director Game Boxscore HOUGHTON, N.Y. (1-30-2010) - The Mount Vernon Nazarene University women’s basketball team forced Houghton (N.Y.) College into 29 turnovers and then scored 31 points off of those miscues as the Lady Cougars posted a 75-63 American Mideast Conference victory on the Highlanders’ home court on Saturday afternoon in the Nielsen Center. MVNU (14-5, 7-4 AMC), which received a vote in the latest NAIA Division II poll and has now won four straight games, got off to a 15-5 lead over the first seven minutes of the game as junior wing Kelli Pollock (left) hit a pair of three-pointers, junior post Amanda Himes scored four points, and junior guard Lauren Johnson nailed a trey of her own. After Houghton (13-7, 8-5) pulled within 15-9 on a layup by Jennifer Hudson at the 9:15 mark, the lead ballooned to 29-14 with 3:20 left in the half as Himes scored eight more points and Pollock drained another three-pointer. The Lady Cougars would go on to take a 36-21 halftime lead to the locker room at the break. Himes led MVNU with 14 points in the first half, while Pollock went 4-for-5 from beyond the three-point arc for 12 points. The Lady Cougars shot 39.4 percent from the field (13-for-33), 50 percent from three-point range (5-for-10), and 83.3 percent from the free throw line (5-for-6). The Highlanders, who were coming off a 62-59 upset of NAIA Division II No. 20 Walsh University on Friday night, committed 20 turnovers in the first half alone that MVNU turned into 21 points. Hudson and Ashley Dupler led Houghton in scoring with nine points apiece in the first half, and the Highlanders shot 40.9 percent from the field (9-for-22), 25 percent from three-point range (2-for-8), and 50 percent at the free throw line (1-for-2). Himes started the second half with a layup that gave the Lady Cougars their biggest lead of the game at 38-21. However, Houghton responded with a quick 8-0 run to pull within 38-29 with 17:12 left in the game. MVNU pushed its lead back up to 14 points and led 50-36 at the 13:37 mark. Again, the big lead was short-lived as the Highlanders went on an 11-1 run as they closed the gap to 51-47 with 10:06 to play. Megan Sampson scored four points during the comeback and Hudson drained a three-pointer. Back-to-back treys by Pollock and sophomore guard Gabby Fowler gave the Lady Cougars some breathing room over the next two possessions as the lead grew to 57-49. Then, Pollock added five more points by canning another three-pointer and hitting two free throws as the score stood at 67-54 in favor of MVNU with 5:09 left. Houghton was able to get within 67-60 with 2:01 to go, but sophomore guard Sierra Fletcher went 4-for-6 at the free throw line and Pollock and junior forward Kellie Jokela both had 2-for-2 performances at the charity stripe as the Lady Cougars posted the 75-63 victory. "What a great effort today against a very good team on the road,” said MVNU coach Steve Gregory. "I am very proud of our kids in their efforts and intensity this weekend. We picked up a pair of important conference victories and played well on the road.” "Our defense was tremendous and forced a veteran Houghton team into 29 turnovers,” Gregory added. "We also knocked down 10 treys with Kelli and Gabby accounting for eight of those. Our bench was productive and our starters carried us as they managed to stay out of foul trouble tonight.” Himes finished with a double-double of 23 points and 14 rebounds to lead MVNU, while Pollock scored a career-high 22 points as she went 6-for-9 from three-point range and 4-for-4 at the charity stripe. Fletcher also just missed recording the Lady Cougars’ first-ever triple-double as she had 13 points, a career-high nine steals (one shy of the school’s single-game record), and eight assists. MVNU shot 34.8 percent from the field for the game (23-for-66), 43.5 percent from three-point range (10-for-23), and 73.1 percent from the free throw line (19-for-26). "Sierra continues to amaze me with her ability to just rip the ball out of peoples’ hands as they are driving to the basket,” said Gregory. "Her overall game is so balanced and strong. She continues to get better each night out.” "Amanda was strong on the block and at the free throw line today,” Gregory continued. "She got (Houghton’s) post player in early foul trouble and dominated. Lauren also gave us very good minutes. She made her presence felt on the defensive end and had a couple of nifty drives to the basket tonight. Free throw shooting and defense down the stretch proved to be the difference in this game.” Dupler led the Highlanders with 17 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocked shots, while Hudson and Leah French tallied 15 and 14 points respectively. Houghon shot 44.4 percent from the field (28-for-63), 25 percent from three-point range (5-for-20), and 20 percent from the free throw line (2-for-10). The Highlanders did win the rebounding battle 46-40, but they also finished with 29 turnovers. The Lady Cougars will return to action on Tuesday when they will host Ursuline College in another AMC game that will tip off at 7:00 p.m.

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