Note: Run separate from all high school basketball briefs
Lady Cougars stay undefeated in conference, beat Saint Francis, 67-59
The Mount Vernon Nazarene University women’s basketball team (7-2, 2-0) remained undefeated in conference play after earning a hard-fought road victory at the University of Saint Francis (4-4, 1-1) by a final score of 67-59.
The story of the game was the performance that Maggie Coblentz put on in Fort Wayne. With USF right on MVNU’s heels, Coblentz scored 11 out of MVNU’s 14 third-quarter points to give it a 49-45 advantage heading into the final frame. In the fourth quarter, Coblentz remained hot, hitting critical shot after critical shot. Coblentz scored eight out of MVNU’s last 10 points to hand the Cougars of Saint Francis its first conference loss of the season.
Coblentz did not miss on the night. She shot 11-for-11 from the field and scored a career-high 25 points. Coblentz pulled down five rebounds as well. Rylee Pireu scored 19 points for MVNU on 6-for-14 shooting, and she grabbed five rebounds. Emily Walker had seven points, five rebounds and four assists. Sage Brannon pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
MVNU coach Amanda Short said, “It was great to get the road win tonight. We played some great team defense, holding Saint Francis to 59 points. We struggled to make a shot tonight, but I was proud of the grit we showed tonight. Coblentz was a force offensively off the bench. She gave us spark after spark. She was unstoppable. It was fun to watch.”
Ladies get first win as starters shine in 83-77 nod over Muskingum
The Kenyon College women’s basketball team took high-percentage shots Saturday and relied immensely on its starting five to pull out an 83-77 home victory against Muskingum University.
The win was the first of the season for the Ladies, as well as the first for Grace Elliot as Kenyon’s coach. Three Kenyon starters played all 40 minutes, while the other two played 39. Those five consistently worked the ball down low, resulting in a season-high 45.5 shooting percentage (30-of-66).
Katie Orefice pumped in a career-high 28 points for Kenyon, which moved its record to 1-5. She also grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists. Sophomore Claudia Cooke turned in the second double-double of her young career, ringing up 18 points and amassing a game-high 12 rebounds. Senior Greta Propp nearly had a double-double, as well, but fell just short with nine points and eight rebounds. Rounding out the Kenyon starters’ scoring spree were Madelyn Anderson and Grace Connery. Anderson had 16 points and six assists, while Connery added a dozen points and three steals.
Muskingum, now 4-2, canned 6-of-10 three-point attempts and sprinted out to a 26-18 lead after one quarter of play. The last three quarters, the Muskies were just 2-of-12 on three-point attempts. At the half, Muskingum was clinging to a 42-41 lead.
In the third quarter, Kenyon went up by as many as nine points and took the game into the final quarter with a 63-58 lead.
