MILWAUKEE – In a very close game, Mount Mary University (4-13) finished strong to defeat Illinois Tech 53-47. A lively Bloechl saw the Blue Angels sweep a season series for the first time since the 2011-12 campaign.
Illinois Tech (0-21) led most of the first half, although the lead never got past six points. Throughout the half MMU continued to play their style basketball; hit the best open shot, and if that does not work, attack the basket. The Scarlet Hawks in contrast launched 13 three-pointers in the half, hitting four of them. Going into halftime, the Scarlet Hawks led by three.
After the locker room chat, the Blue Angels came out looking hungry to play ball. MMU took control right away applying a high pressure defense that forced IIT to throw the ball away, or take ill-advised shots. The Blue Angels started the half on an 11-2 run, and held the Scarlet Hawks without a made field goal for over eight minutes.
The Blue Angels would teeter-totter with the lead, but the team eventually clamped down again. Hitting their free-throws and forcing the opposition to make bad throws, MMU finished on an 8-2 run to win the game.
Another phenomenal performance for Chrisandra Freeman (Fr./Cedar Rapids, Iowa). In her fourth double-double of the year she finished with 19 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and two steals. The rookie has been figuring out the NCAA game, as this is her third double-double in the last month.
Taylor Baumgart (So./Burlington, Wis.) was a bounce away from her first double-double of the season. Going for 10 points, nine rebounds and one assist on the night. Baumgart has been cutting down on her turnovers, and tonight took advantage of the overaggressive defense going 5 of 7 from the free-throw line.
Youngsters Jasmine Meyer (Fr./Lansing, Wis.) and Becky Onan (Fr./Grafton, Wis.) helped out all over the court. Onan finished with four points and 10 rebounds and Meyer had another big night on both sides with 10 points, three steals and one block.
Coach Marc Heidorf has seen a young team really pick up their play not only late in the season, but during the crunch time of some close games. "We did what teams that want to be good need to do late in games: play smart, hold opponents to one look at the basket each possession, and hit your free-throws."
Now the Blue Angels will head to Michigan for the Grace Bible Classic. MMU's first game in the classic will be against host Grace Bible College on Friday Feb. 9th at 6:00 pm in Wyoming, Mich.
