Millersville, Pa. - After totaling 22 points in her previous two games,
Lauren Lister scored 30, one shy of her career high, to lead the Millersville University women's basketball team to a 63-57 win over Gannon on Saturday afternoon in Pucillo Gymnasium. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Marauders.
"It's hard to come back and win a close game after three-straight losses," head coach
Mary Fleig said. "I'm so proud of the way they played today."
Millersville (7-12, 4-8 PSAC) ended a two-game losing streak to the Golden Knights, while Gannon (9-11, 5-8 PSAC) has now lost two-straight games.
Neither team led by more than nine and the game was tied, 56-56, with less than five minutes left on the clock. Both teams were unable to score for almost three minutes, until Lister was fouled at the 2:08 mark and made both of her free throws. As a team, the Marauders were 7-for-8 from the charity stripe in the final two and a half minutes of the quarter.
"When it was tied in the fourth quarter we resorted back to everything we had film on," Fleig said. "We had to make better decisions than we had earlier in the fourth quarter, we had to own the boards and we had to play great defense. We did all of that. From top to bottom we were very smart down the stretch."
Gannon began the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run that spanned almost four minutes, but Millersville then finished the game on a 14-1 run during which the defense held the Golden Knights to 0-for-11 from the floor. During their three-game losing streak, the Marauders were outscored 76-48 in the fourth quarter.
"We had struggled in the last quarter the past three games," Fleig said. "We started the fourth quarter down seven, but were able to stop their run. Our defense executed very well down the stretch."
Lister shot 54.5 percent (12-for-22) and scored eight of Millersville's 14 points in the final quarter.
Courtney Dimoff was second on the team with nine points, going 3-for-6 from beyond the arch, including a go-ahead three with 22 seconds left in the third quarter.
"Lauren Lister was not 100 percent today, but she did a great job," Fleig said. "Courtney Dimoff loosened up today and helped us a lot in the second half."
The Marauders trailed 32-30 at halftime, the second time this season they have come back to win after trailing at the half. A jumper by Lister at the 5:12 mark of the third quarter gave Millersville its first lead of the game, 39-38.
ADDITIONAL QUOTES
• "We prepared very well for this game yesterday. We were relaxed, worked hard, battled and executed our defense. We fully prepared for what we were going to see today."
• "We battled throughout the whole game. Our defense kept getting stops and we got some big rebounds in key situations."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Gannon entered the game with a -5.53 turnover ratio, second-worst in the PSAC, and promptly turned the ball over 22 times compared to Millersville's 17 turnovers. The Golden Knights did score 28 points off turnovers, more than twice the Marauders' 12 points off turnovers.
• Millersville held a 12-4 edge in second chance points despite being outrebounded 34-29, including 10-7 on offensive boards.
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Chandera Jones-Aryeh notched a game-high five assists, which set a career high.
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Olivia Mottern set a new career high with a game-high 10 rebounds.
NOTES
• Gannon now leads the all-time series with the Marauders, 8-4, but Millersville has won the last two meeting in Pucillo Gymnasium.
• The Golden Knights entered the game with a 5-3 road record compared to a 4-6 mark at home. The Marauders are now 5-5 at home this season, with two of those losses coming against nationally ranked opponents.
UP NEXT
• Millersville travels to East Stroudsburg on Wednesday, Jan. 30 for a 6 p.m. game. The Marauders are looking to end a string of three-straight losses on the road.
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