MILWAUKEE – Tonight at the Bloechl Center, visiting Silver Lake College (16-7) defeated the Mount Mary University basketball team 72-48. For the second straight game, two different Blue Angels finished with a double-double, but some effective shooting from the Lakers and 10 blocks from SLC leads to the MMU loss.
The Blue Angels grabbed the early lead against the Lakers. A bucket in the paint from Erica Williams (Fr./Bloomington, Ill.) one minute into the contest yielded MMU a 4-0 lead. The Lakers continued to search for their offense. With six minutes left to go in the quarter, the Lakers tied things following back-to-back free throws. That started a 10-3 run that pushed SLC out in front 14-7 after the end of one.
To begin the second quarter, the Blue Angels clamped down on defense and held their opponent to just one point in the first four minutes as they scored seven of their own to make things 15-14. Then the Lakers expanded their lead in the remainder of the half with a 14-4 run right before halftime.
MMU continued to attack, hitting 3-of-11 from outside the 3-point line and 4-of-19 from the field in the third quarter. SLC attacked inside and had Paige Boden score eight of the team's 17 points in the quarter. The center for the Lakers also finished the frame with two of her six blocks in the game.
With the fouls coming early and often in the fourth quarter, the Blue Angels took advantage and hit 13-of-14 from the free throw line on their way to score 18 points. Although MMU forced three SLC turnovers also, the Lakers hit 11-of-16 from the field including 3-of-3 from outside on their way to a 26-point quarter to put things out of reach.
"Their size did a number on us today," said Mount Mary Head Basketball Coach Marc Heidorf. "The blocked shots were an obvious problem, but we rushed more than a few shots especially in the first half because of their length too."
"In the second half I thought we were a little more aggressive in getting good quick shots up. We just could not hit consistently enough to sustain a run."
Both Becky Onan (Sr./Grafton, Wis.) and Erica Williams finished the game with 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Blue Angels. Onan added four assists and three blocks to her stat-line while Williams added two assists and three steals.
Onan is closing in on becoming the first MMU player in recorded history to score 1000 career points. Just 11 points shy of the feat, Onan has a chance to break the milestone on her homecourt next Thu. Feb. 15. The game at the Bloechl Center begins at 6:00 pm and will have live video available at mtmaryathletics.com.
