STEVENS POINT, Wis. – Tonight at the Berg Gymnasium, the Mount Mary University basketball team defeated the Northland College Lumberjills (3-3) by a score of 69-65. The Blue Angels trailed late, but recaptured the lead with two minutes left to go in the contest to grab the win and move to 4-3 on the season.
The first three quarters of play saw the teams play even on both sides of the court. In the first quarter, the Blue Angels hit accurately from the field going 6-of-12 overall and 1-of-1 from outside the 3-point line. On the other side, the Lumberjills matched with the same 15 points as MMU, but NC shot 6-of-18 from the field and 2-of-5 from outside.
The two teams continued to trade the lead in the second frame. Neither team separating themselves by more than three points, a pair of free throws by Northland with 41 seconds left in the half put the Lumberjills up two. That led to a 27-25 lead for NC going into the locker rooms at halftime.
The third quarter saw the Lumberjills take their biggest lead of the night. With three minutes left to go in the frame Northland took a 49-37 lead over the Blue Angels. Within twenty seconds of that 12-point lead, Erica Williams (So./Bloomington, Ill.) attacked the hoop from the post as she was heavily defended and knocked down the bucket.
That quick response led to the Blue Angels going on a 9-1 run to close out the third. But MMU carried over that momentum from the previous quarter and scored the first three field goals of the quarter to recapture the lead.
After Northland responded with a quick 3-pointer, the teams continued their posturing and trading buckets. With three minutes left to go in the game, Williams cut down a 3-point Northland lead down to just one with a quick pass from teammate Lucy Pavelko (Jr./Muskego, Wis.).
On the next play the Blue Angels forced a missed jumper and Williams was fouled going for the rebound. Williams subsequently knocked down the awarded free throws to give the Blue Angels the 66-65 lead with two minutes remaining.
MMU held their opponent off the scoreboard for the remaining time, and added three more points from the free throw line to make the final score 69-65.
Williams finished the game with her fourth double-double of the season featuring 24 points and 12 rebounds. The junior went 9-of-13 from the field in her seventh game of the season.
Teammate Brooke Uebersetzig (Jr./Greenwood, Ind.) finished with a season high 20 points going 7-of-12 from the field and 3-of-4 from outside the 3-point arc.
Freshmen Melissa Golo (Boise, Idaho) and Ka'Riah Simmons (Genesee, Mich.) helped their team as well. Golo hit 6-of-11 from the field on her way to 12 points, while Simmons dominated the glass with six rebounds.
"…We had to remember who we were the second half," said Williams after the team's fourth victory of the year. "Which is the result of the W!"
"We never gave up because…" Williams emphasized, "WE WANTED IT MORE FROM THE START!"
The Blue Angels will return to the Bloechl Center Sat. Dec. 8. Crown College will take on the Blue Angels at 2:00 pm with live stats and video for the game available at MtMaryAthletics.com.