Millersville, Pa. - The Millersville University women's basketball team lost its closest game of the season which saw five lead changes in the final three minutes with West Chester ultimately coming out on top, 66-64.
Courtney Dimoff's layup with eight seconds left in the game gave the Marauders a 64-63 lead, but Destiny Jefferson's 3-pointer on the next possession proved to be the game winner.
"I thought we bounced back from Wednesday's game extremely well," head coach
Mary Fleig said. "They played with a lot of urgency, passion and heart. Basketball is a game of 'almosts' and we almost had this one. I wouldn't change anything about the way we played today."
This marks West Chester's (5-10, 1-6 PSAC) fifth-straight win over Millersville (4-9, 1-5 PSAC).
Lauren Lister was the leading scorer for Millersville, totaling 19 points, including 15 in the second half, three assists and two steals. She shot 44 percent (8-for-18) from the floor and made three of her four shots from the charity strip.
Two other Marauders,
Samantha Brusha with 13 and Dimoff with 12, scored in double figures. Brusha shot 56.6 percent (5-for-9), including 3-for-3 from beyond the arch. She also lead the team with a career-high five steals and, along with
Olivia Mottern, pulled down a team-high six rebounds.
"
Samantha Brusha has played three good games in a row," Fleig said. "I liked her at the up guard position today. She got some tip steals in big situations."
The two teams were nearly even in shooting percentage--Millersville at 44.1 and West Chester at 42.4--and 3-point percentage, Millersville at 33.3 and West Chester at 34.8. The Golden Rams also held a slight edge in rebounds (35-32), second-chance points (16-15), and turned the ball over 18 times compared to the Marauders' 17 turnovers.
The Millersville defense was able to hold West Chester's two leading scorers, Destiny Jefferson and Gabrielle Troisi, to a combined 11 points and 31 shooting percentage (4-for-13).
ADDITIONAL QUOTES
• "We gave up too many offensive rebounds in the first half but in the second half we came out and did a much better job rebounding. It was a typical PSAC East, Millersville-West Chester rivalry game. These are the kind of games we play against them."
• "We had some great reads at the end of the game.
Olivia Mottern took the final shot and I thought she would make that basket. Even though she didn't, I thought it was a great shot."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Millersville held a 9-5 advantage in steals and a 14-2 edge in fast break points.
• The Marauders went on an 8-0 run in the third quarter to tie the game. During that stretch they went 4-for-5 from the floor.
• The two teams combined for 38 points in the third quarter. During that period, Millersville shot 61.5 percent and West Chester shot 53.3 percent.
• The Marauders went on a 4-0 run in the fourth quarter that spanned 5:07. After that run there was 2:42 left on the clock, and the two teams combined for 18 points in the remainder of the game.
NOTES
• Three of Millersville's last four games have been decided by four points or less. None of its games were decided by that small of a margin prior to that stretch.
• The Golden Rams are now 8-1 against the Marauders under the tenure of head coach Kiera Wooden.
• Three of the last four games between these two teams have been decided by seven points or less.
UP NEXT
• Millersville will stay home and host another PSAC East rival, Shippensburg, on Wednesday, Jan. 9 at 5:30 p.m. in Pucillo Gymnasium.
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