MILWAUKEE – Today at the Bloechl Center, the visiting Central College Dutch defeated the Blue Angels by a score of 71-47. The Dutch are now 6-3 on the season while the Blue Angels move to 3-5.
Leading the offense against the Dutch in Saturday's contest was Erica Williams (Jr./Bloomington, Ill.). In her 28 minutes of action, Williams scored 22 points and pulled in 11 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season. Williams went 9-of-16 from the field and 4-of-11 from the free throw line.
Teammate Rae Grubbs (Sr./Covington, Ind.) scored 11 points for MMU. Grubbs continues to lead her squad with her outside shooting: Grubbs went 3-of-8 from outside in today's game against the Dutch.
On defense, Lucy Pavelko (Sr./Muskego, Wis.) guided her team with a high four steals. The senior guard also ripped down five rebounds in her first start of the season.
In the opening quarter, both teams came out aggressive on defense. While the defense was on full-throttle for both teams, neither team was able to crack the score column in the first two minutes. After the first basket, the two teams continued to swap scores eveningly. The Blue Angels forced the Dutch into four team turnovers in the opening frame, but Central was able to grab a slight lead hitting only one more basket than their opponent.
With the score 15-12 to begin the second quarter, the Dutch went on a 7-1 run that left MMU scoreless for over four minutes. After Grubbs broke the scoreless streak with a 3-point basket, the Blue Angels went on a 7-4 run that helped MMU cut the deficit to four. The Dutch went on to finish the second shooting 37.5 percent from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line. That boost gave the Dutch a 32-22 lead going into halftime.
In the third quarter, the Blue Angels controlled the glass as they out-rebounded their opponent 10-9 in the frame. MMU again forced Central into four turnovers in the quarter, but the Dutch hit an effective 5-of-10 from the field to sustain their lead into the fourth quarter.
The Dutch attacked with their biggest offensive quarter of the night in the fourth. The Blue Angels also scored a game high 14 points as they hit 6-of-13 from the field as a team in the quarter. MMU's Williams score seven of the team's 14 fourth quarter points.
Central slowly grew out the lead going 9-of-19 from the field and 6-of-9 from the charity stripe. The Dutch outscored MMU 26-14 to grab the 71-47 victory.
After today's contest, the Blue Angels will return to the Bloechl Center tomorrow afternoon for a rematch against the Dutch. Live stats and video will be available for the contest that starts at 1:00 pm Sunday. Links can be found at MtMaryAthletics.com.
