Milwaukee, WI - College basketball was back in swing at the Bloechl Center on Tuesday evening. The Mount Mary Basketball team had a 7 point half time lead against the Scarlet Hawks of Illinois Tech. But fatigue and hot shooting by the Hawks did in MMU, as the Blue Angels fell by a 72-62 score.
The Blue Angels started four players new to the team this year, 3 of which were freshmen. Talesa Campbell was the only returning player in uniform for MMU on Tuesday night.
Mount Mary took a 30-23 lead into intermission, largely by dominating at the free throw line. On the evening MMU was 17-23 from the line while Illinois Tech got to the charity stripe only 8 times.
Illinois Tech hurt MMU on the offensive glass, with 20 offensive rebounds, and from the 3 point line, IIT connected on 10-23 attempts while Mount Mary was cold from distance, shooting just 3 of 17.
Of Mount Mary's 62 points, 59 were scored by players new to the team, and 52 by freshmen playing their first collegiate game. Skye Giddings, Deja Rivers, and Alexus Hatcher, each scored in double digits. Giddings with 19, Rivers with 18 and Hatcher with 15. India Lucas also played a strong game in her Blue Angel debut, with 7 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.
Rivers put up a double double in her first college game, leading MMU with 13 rebounds to go with her 18 points.
Mount Mary (0-1) will play two more home games this week, the next being Friday, November 11th, against Martin Luther College. The game will tip at 5 pm.
