LOCK HAVEN, Pa. — The Marauders looked to retake possession of first place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference's (PSAC) East division with a win over Lock Haven Saturday afternoon, but a rough first quarter and a half was too much for the visitors to overcome; the Bald Eagles jumped out to a 36-9 lead after the first 17 minutes and coasted to an 81-51 victory.
 
12 turnovers, nine fouls and a one-of-10 line from the field slowed the Marauder offense to a crawl in the first quarter. It was eerily similar to Millersville's first game against Lock Haven last season. In that contest, the Marauders scored the first five points before the Bald Eagles embarked on a 27-0 run that essentially put the game out of reach.
 
"They jumped on us," Millersville head coach Kira Mowen said of her team's performance in the opening frame. "We weren't prepared for that and ready to go.  Obviously, the turnovers in the first half didn't help. Had we not had the 12 turnovers and actually got shots up on the basket, we might have felt a little bit more comfortable in the game flow."
 
Another similarity to that Jan. 31, 2024 contest against Lock Haven was that Millersville made inroads into the deficit after righting the ship. A solid third quarter fueled by good offensive rebounding and ball security brought the margin down to 19, but that was as close as the visitors would get. After the first quarter, Millersville was decidedly better than Lock Haven at taking care of the ball; the Marauders had six turnovers to Lock Haven's 15 over the final 30 minutes.
 
Kali March led the 'Ville in scoring with 17 points including a perfect eight-of-eight from the free throw line. She was the only Marauder to reach double-digits, but Sophia Elstone was close with nine.
 
Millersville gets no respite after the loss, as a Jan. 29 matchup with West Chester will be its next test. Mowen and her team are looking at that as an opportunity to potentially right the ship and put this loss in the rearview mirror.
 
"The beautiful thing is that we don't have a long break; we're up and running again on Wednesday," Mowen said postgame. "There's no time for us to hang our heads. We've made a strong push in the first half of the season, and there's no reason we can't have another strong push coming up. We have to put this one behind us. We get 24 hours to think about it and then let's move on because we've got work to do."
 
That Wednesday, Jan. 29 contest against West Chester will be in Pucillo Gymnasium and begin at 5:30 p.m. Recent 1,000 point scorers March and Makiah Shaw will be honored for their accomplishment pregame.