|
Men's Teams
Women's Teams
|
 |
|
|
Lady Cougar Basketball Game Recap
Lady Cougars' Rally Falls Just Short
Versus No. 6 Concordia
written by Dave Parsons, Sports Information Director
Game Boxscore
DEERFIELD, Ill. (12-30-2011) - The Mount
Vernon Nazarene University women's
basketball team rallied from a 13-point
halftime deficit to briefly take the lead
late in the game before falling 51-50 to
NAIA Division II No. 6 Concordia (Mich.)
University on Friday afternoon at the
Trinity International (Ill.) University
Holiday Tournament.
The Lady Cougars
(9-4), who received a vote in the latest
NAIA Division II poll, got off to a slow
start in this game as they found themselves
trailing 13-4 just five minutes into the
game. Hannah Sabol scored 11 of the points
for the Lady Cardinals (13-2).
 MVNU
was able to close the gap to 17-15 with
10:35 left in the half, but a 16-3 run by
Concordia pushed the margin to 33-18 with
1:47 to go. The Lady Cougars inched a little
closer as MVNU trailed 35-22 at the break
after sophomore post Amy Daniels
(left) beat the halftime
buzzer with a shot.
Senior forward
Alexis Harkins led the Lady Cougars with
seven points, while Daniels added six points
and five rebounds. MVNU shot 35.7 percent
from the field (10-for-28), 12.5 percent
from 3-point range (1-for-8), and 33.3
percent from the free throw line (1-for-3).
The Lady Cougars also committed 13
first-half turnovers.
Sabol led
Concordia with 13 ponts, while Kortni
Elsworth contributed nine points and five
assists. The Lady Cardinals shot 50 percent
from the field (12-for-24), 42.9 percent
from 3-point range (3-for-7), and 66.7
percent from the free throw line (8-for-12).
MVNU got off to a better start in the
second half as the Lady Cougars began to
whittle away at the lead thanks to numerous
defensive stops. By the 4:06 mark, MVNU had
actually taken the lead 48-46 with 4:06 to
go on a jumper by Harkins to cap off a 26-11
run.
That would prove to be the only
lead of the game for the Lady Cougars,
though, as Concordia's Kelly Cieslak made a
jumper to knot the score at 48-48 and Brooke
Adams put the Lady Cardinals on top 50-48
with a basket with 2:38 left.
Junior
guard Melissa Eickholt buried a pair of free
throws to knot the score at 50-50 with 2:16
remaining. After neither team was able to
score for 2:10, Elsworth made the second
attempt of a two-shot foul to give Concordia
a 51-50 lead that proved to be the final
margin.
Daniels led MVNU with 14
points and four rebounds off the bench,
while Harkins added 13 points and five
rebounds. Senior post Whitney Levering also
tossed in 10 points to go with five
rebounds, and senior guard Sierra Fletcher
tallied nine points. The Lady Cougars shot
36.5 percent from the field (19-for-52),
just 9.1 percent from 3-point range
(1-for-11), and 64.7 percent from the free
throw line (11-for-17). They did force 24
turnovers and held Concordia to just 16
points in the second half.
The Lady
Cardinals were led by Sabol with 17 points
and 10 rebounds, while Elsworth contributed
13 points and seven assists. Concordia shot
38.6 percent from the field (17-for-44),
30.8 percent from 3-point range (4-for-13),
and 54.2 percent from the free throw line
(13-for-24).
"The girls put together
a great second half, but it was not quite
enough to overcome a slow first half start,"
said MVNU coach Jason Foster. "Defensively,
we really got after Concordia and held them
to 16 second-half points. This was a
physical game, and each time out we get
stronger and stronger. As a team, we are
really improving each day. We knew going
into this tournament that it would be very
difficult and we would need our best effort.
I think that playing strong teams like
Concordia and Trinity International gets us
used to playing at a high level night in and
night out which is needed in a conference
like the MCC since it is loaded from top to
bottom."
The Lady Cougars, who now
have two last-second losses to Top 10 teams,
will return to conference play on Tuesday
with a 6 p.m. home game against No. 10
Bethel (Ind.) College.
| |
|
|
Site Map
