MILWAUKEE – The Mount Mary basketball team ran into a Finlandia University buzzsaw Thursday night at the Bloechl Center, falling 101-38 in its penultimate home game of the season.
"Nobody likes to lose like that," head coach Marc Heidorf said. "Our kids are competitors but there are positives. They may be tough to see outside our locker room, but as long as we see them in our locker room that is all I care about."
Hot shooting right from the start doomed the host Angels, as the Lions jumped out to a 10-2 lead. Mount Mary closed to within 12-8 after jumpers from sophomore forward Donielle Yendriga (Conneaut, Ohio) and freshman forward Andrea Roell (Kingsford, Mich.).
The Lions would promptly respond with a 44-10 run to end the half, taking an insurmountable lead into the break.
The Lions posted a blistering 64 percent shooting from the floor in the first half, including five three-pointers. For the game, Finlandia went 43-for-76 from the floor and hit 13 triples on 36 attempts.
On the other side of the floor, Mount Mary's offensive struggles continued, shooting just 28 percent from the floor. The Blue Angels out-rebounded Finlandia for the second straight game, but the Lions' transition game was stellar, turning 26 MMU turnovers into 39 points and outscoring the Angels 34-2 in the open floor.
"Nobody in our program came through the doors expecting a one-year fix—the expectation is to keep moving forward," Heidorf said. "Last year at this time no one anywhere was talking Mount Mary basketball. That's progress. Our kids have gone through a lot this season to get that ball rolling again and I am very proud of them."
For Mount Mary, sophomore Doni Yendriga (Conneaut, Ohio) recorded her third straight double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds. She shot a team-high 7-for-11 from the floor while also adding an assist and just one turnover in 37 minutes of action.
Roell, who suited up for just the second time this season, recorded 12 points, three rebounds and a pair of assists. Freshman Taylor Baumgart (Burlington, Wis.) had a tough shooting night, scoring just seven points and recording seven rebounds, but she did tally a team-high three steals and two assists.
The Blue Angels will put the finishing touches on its 2013-14 campaign with two matchups next week. Tuesday, they will travel to Chicago's north side to take on Moody Bible Institute, which defeated MMU in its season-opener, 77-64. The Angels will close out its season Thursday, welcoming AD3I rival Maranatha Baptist University at the Bloechl Center.
