Bemidji,MN- The Mount Mary Blue Angel basketball team hoped to finish a two game Minnesota swing with a road win against Oak Hills Christian College. The Wolf Pack would not makes things easy, but Mount Mary used solid defense and rebounding, and clutch plays and shooting down the stretch to secure a 67-62 victory.
After an even first period Mount Mary shot ahead and took an 11 point lead into the break. Oak Hills would not go away and a wild second half ensued. The half saw a technical foul on the Wolf Pack bench and multiple players foul out. As has been their tendency for most of the season, Mount Mary won the free throw diffential, making more foul shots then the Wolf Pack attempted.
Deja Rivers may have had her best collegiate game, Rivers poured in 26 points on 10 for 15 shooting, and as has been her standard, she achieved a double double with a dominant 19 rebounds, many of which saved the game down the stretch. Remarkably, Rivers added 4 steals and 3 assists to complete her finest contest as a college player so far.
The Blue Angels scored the last 10 points of the contest to finish off Oak Hills, most notably two clutch three point shots by Skye Giddings in the last 3 minutes gave MMU the lift they needed to pull out the win. On the game Giddings had 15 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists.
Talesa Campbell again lifted the Blue Angel offense, she dropped in 16 points, and hit clutch free throws down the stretch. Campbell also secured 7 rebounds.
The win completed a strong 3 day strecth for MMU, being one possession away from nearly defeating Crown and taking the road contest over Oak Hills.
Mount Mary (5-12) now has a short chance to catch their breath before their next contest. They will seek a second straight road victory when they head to Andrews University on January 17th. All coverage of MMU athletics can be found here on www.mtmaryathletics.com
