MOUNT VERNON – Maggie Coblentz provided a spark off the bench that the Mount Vernon Nazarene University women’s basketball team needed this week.
The junior scored a combined 36 points and added 15 rebounds, six steals, two assists and two blocks in leading the Cougars to wins over Rio Grande and Indiana University East.
Coblentz had 16 points, eight rebounds and four steals in MVNU’s 80-69 win over Rio Grande in non-conference play on Tuesday, Dec. 15. She followed that up with 20 points, seven rebounds and a pair of steals to help the Cougars beat IU East 77-67 in non-conference play on Thursday, Dec. 17.
Taylor Gregory led the Cougars in scoring in both ballgames with 22 points against the Red Wolves after scoring 25 points against the Red Storm.
Gregory added a combined 14 rebounds and five blocks; and Riley Pireu had 31 points, 10 rebounds and four steals over the two-game stretch for the Cougars.
Reagan Willingham scored 22 points, Chyna Chambers added 14 points and Lexi Woods went for 12 points and 15 rebounds to lead Rio Grande, which never recovered after trailing 21-7 at the end of one quarter.
Kami McEldowney had 23 points, five boards and three steals; and Kennedy Griffin added 13 points for IU East, which led 32-28 at the break and was up by as many as eight points in the second half before the Cougars went on an 11-1 run to take the lead.
IUE grabbed the lead back and led by one at the end of three. Pireu gave MVNU the lead for good on a 3-pointer with 5:31 remaining that started a 10-0 run.
