Lady Cougars Suffer Third One-Point Loss of the Year


	Lady Cougar Basketball Game Recap Lady Cougars Suffer Third One-Point Loss of the Year written by Dave Parsons, Sports Information Director Game Boxscore HUNTINGTON, Ind. (1-5-2012) - The Mount Vernon Nazarene University women's basketball team saw a 16-point first-half lead disappear and the Lady Cougars could not get a defensive stop when they needed to at the end of the game as they fell 60-59 at Huntington (Ind.) University on Thursday night in Mid-Central College Conference action. With the score tied at 8-8 six minutes into the game, MVNU (9-6, 1-4 MCC) went on a 23-7 run to take a 31-15 lead with just 2:35 left in the half. Sophomore post Amy Daniels *(left)* led the surge with 11 points as she went 5-for-5 from the field, while senior guard Sierra Fletcher tossed in nine points. The host Lady Foresters (10-5, 2-3 MCC) closed the half on a 10-4 run to pull within 35-25 as the teams went to the locker rooms at the break. Daniels led the Lady Cougars with 13 first-half points as she went 6-for-6 from the field. Fletcher added nine points. MVNU shot 57.7 percent from the field (15-for-26), 50 percent from 3-point range (4-for-8), and 50 percent from the free throw line (1-for-2). Pazia Speed led Huntington with seven points, while Liesl Davenport and Kelsey Green each contributed five points apiece with Green grabbing six rebounds. The Lady Foresters shot 40.9 percent from the field (9-for-22), 40 percent from 3-point range (2-for-5), and made all five free throw attempts. The momentum from the end of the first half carried over into the second half as Huntington kept inching closer before taking its first lead of the game 51-50 on a jumper by Courtney Baker with 5:48 left in regulation. There were five lead changes and three ties before the Lady Foresters built a 60-57 advantage with 49 seconds left after a pair of free throws by Lauren Meese and a layup by Green. Daniels pulled the Lady Cougars within 60-59 with a layup with 34 seconds to go, and MVNU elected not to foul the No. 2 ranked free throw shooting team in all of NAIA Division II and instead play defense to try to get the ball back with seconds left on the clock. The plan back-fired, though, when Speed missed a 3-pointer with less than five seconds to go and the Foresters grabbed the offensive rebound and ran the clock out to preserve the one-point victory. Daniels finished with a career-high 19 points off the bench as she set a school record by going 9-for-9 from the field to go with seven rebounds. Fletcher added 12 points, and senior forward Alexis Harkins finished with nine points. The Lady Cougars shot 49 percent from the field (24-for-49), 42.9 percent from 3-point range (6-for-14), and 83.3 percent from the free throw line (5-for-6). Green was the lone Huntington player in double figures with 15 points and 10 rebounds, but each of the seven player who saw action in the game scored at least four points and played at least 13 minutes. Davenport and Speed added nine points apiece. The Lady Foresters shot 44.2 percent from the field (23-for-52), 23.1 percent from 3-point range (3-for-13), and 91.7 percent from the free throw line (11-for-12). "We lost focus in the crunch," said MVNU coach Jason Foster, whose team has now dropped three one-point decisions this season. "We played hard and we battled through a tough game, but when we needed a play we fell short." "Amy had a great game and is getting stronger with each contest," Foster added. "We need to continue to focus on the details and when that happens we will be on the better side of all these one-point games." The Lady Cougars will return to action on Saturday when the team travels to the University of Saint Francis (Ind.) for another MCC contest that will begin at 1 p.m.

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