Lady Cougars Drop Fifth Straight with 53-49 Road Loss


	Lady Cougar Basketball Game Recap Lady Cougars Drop Fifth Straight with 53-49 Road Loss written by Dave Parsons, Sports Information Director Game Boxscore SPRING ARBOR, Mich. (1-11-2012) - The Mount Vernon Nazarene University women's basketball team saw a 10-point first-half lead slip away thanks to 20 turnovers and just 29.1 percent shooting from the field for the game as the visiting Lady Cougars dropped their fifth straight game in a 53-49 Mid-Central College Conference loss at Spring Arbor (Mich.) University on Wednesday night. MVNU (9-8, 1-6 MCC) got off to a good start in the game as senior guard Sierra Fletcher drilled a pair of 3-pointers and junior guard Melissa Eickholt added five early points as the visiting Lady Cougars took an 18-8 lead with nine minutes gone by. However, Spring Arbor (6-12, 2-5 MCC) responded with a 22-8 run of its own to take a 30-26 lead before MVNU senior post Whitney Levering beat the halftime buzzer with a basket to trim the lead to 30-28 going to the locker room at the break. Levering led the Lady Cougars with eight points and four rebounds in the first half, while Fletcher added six points. MVNU shot 34.6 percent from the field (9-for-26), 50 percent from 3-point range (3-for-6), and 87.5 percent from the free throw line (7-for-8). The Lady Cougars also committed 12 first-half turnovers. Megan Bement paced Spring Arbor with 10 points in the first half as she went 4-for-4 from the field and 2-for-2 at the free throw line. The host Lady Cougars shot 42.9 percent from the field (12-for-28), 22.2 percent from 3-point range (2-for-9), and made all four of their free throw attempts. The second half started out close as MVNU knotted the score at 33-33 on a basket by sophomore post Amy Daniels with just over four minutes gone by. At that point, Spring Arbor went on a 12-4 run to take a 45-37 advantage with 9:45 left in the game. However, MVNU did not panic and pulled back within 45-43 with 6:25 to go on a basket by junior forward Emily Steveley. The Lady Cougars were unable to get any closer than two points the rest of the way, though, as MVNU committed three turnovers down the stretch and went just 1-for-9 from the field, and Spring Arbor was able to hold on for the 53-49 victory. Fletcher led MVNU with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Levering posted a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds. Eickholt finished with eight points, and Harkins tossed in seven points and grabbed six rebounds. The visiting Lady Cougars shot 29.1 percent from the field (16-for-55), 25 percent from 3-point range (4-for-16), and 68.4 percent from the free throw line (13-for-19). Bement led all scorers with 12 points for Spring Arbor, while Jessica Garrison added 10 points. Michaela Robichaud also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. The host Lady Cougars shot 36.7 percent from the field (18-for-49), 20 percent from 3-point range (3-for-15), and 93.3 percent from the free throw line (14-for-15). "It was a hard night," said MVNU coach Jason Foster. "Yet another long road trip that did not go our way. We put together a good effort again on the defensive side of the ball, but we just can't seem to find a rhythm or understanding on the offensive side of the ball. I think we continue to prove that we can play with anyone, but the problem with that is playing with someone and beating them are two completely different things. I think we can still make some noise in the conference this year, but we need to learn to work together on the offensive side of the ball." Things will not get any easier for MVNU when they wrap up their four-game road trip with an MCC contest at NAIA Division II No. 23 Marian (Ind.) University. That game is slated to tip off at 1 p.m.

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