The basketball season began with last-second excitement as the Mount Vernon Nazarene University women's basketball team (1-0, 0-0) defeated Lawrence Tech University (0-1, 0-0) by a 73-71 score on Friday, Oct. 22, on a buzzer-beater by senior center Lily Krieger.
MVNU dominated the first half and took 43-29 lead into the break. The second half was a different story, however, as the Blue Devils played inspired ball. Carried by a fired-up home crowd, Lawrence Tech kept chipping away at the MVNU lead, eventually claiming a 64-63 advantage. After another LTU basket, Lady Cougars junior guard Rylee Pireu hit a game-tying three to knot the score at 66-66 with 5:36 left. Trailing 68-66, Pireu hit another clutch three to put MVNU up 69-68 with 4:13 left. Pireu then hit two clutch free throws to put the Lady Cougars up by three.
Lawrence Tech’s Kendall Fisher showed why she’s one of the top returning guards in the WHAC. The dynamic point guard tied the game after hitting a clutch three-pointer of her own with 1:16 remaining in the game. Fisher finished the game with 36 points for the Blue Devils.
After a stop on defense with the game still tied, MVNU called a timeout with five seconds left in the game. The ball was inbounded to Maggie Coe, who then hit Krieger on a roll. Krieger shot the ball with confidence and sent the Blue Devils and their fans home with a 73-71 loss at the buzzer.
The Lady Cougars were better from three than from elsewhere on the court, sinking 46.7% from the floor and 57.9% from three. MVNU controlled the glass by a 40-34 margin, but ball-handling was rough as the Lady Cougars finished with 24 turnovers.
Pireu led the scoring production with 16 points – going 4-for-6 from three. Sage Brannon had 11 points and five rebounds. Krieger controlled the paint, finishing with 10 points, 10 boards and two blocks. Maggie Coe had nine points and seven assists. Elizabeth Monk played an efficient game as she had eight points, seven rebounds and four assists. Emily Walker hit three triples to finish with nine points off the bench.
MVNU coach Amanda Short said, “I’m proud of the players for being able to pull out a tough win on the road. We came out strong, and Lawrence Tech never gave up and fought their way back. It was a very difficult environment to play in, one of the toughest we have seen in the NAIA. It wasn’t a perfect game, but we gutted it out and hit clutch shots. We will need to clean it up in some areas moving forward, but a lot to be proud of. It was fun to see some of the newcomers making their mark early. Krieger had a great game. Hitting a game-winning shot is always exciting as a team.”
