Strong Second Half Fuels WBB Past USJ
NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College women's basketball team used a strong second half to post a 75-48 exhibition victory over the University of Saint Joseph on Thursday night at the Yarnall Athletic Center.
The Mariners outscored the Blue Jays 21-13 in the third quarter and 22-6 in the fourth en route to the win. Mitchell's Sam McKenna led all scorers with 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Jermia Dumas came off the bench to chip in 17 points. Alexia Watson posted 15 points and six rebounds while Le'Sandra Turner finished with game highs of eight rebounds and eight assists.
Taylor Verboven paced USJ with 16 points and shot 5-for-8 from long range. Amanda Fudge chipped in nine points while Katelyn Vazquez had six points and seven rebounds.
Neither team led by more than four in the opening quarter as both offenses were slow out of the gate. The Blue Jays took a slim 15-14 advantage into the second stanza and got buckets from Cheyenne-Mone Smith and Jordan Ouellette to take their biggest lead of the night at 19-14.
Mitchell stayed within striking distance throughout and ultimately took the lead behind a 9-2 run late in the half. Dumas provided the final seven points of the spurt, including a three-point play to put the Mariners in front for good.
Mitchell led 32-29 at the break but quickly added to the margin. McKenna made a pair of threes to bump the lead to 38-31, and later on a 10-0 run left the Mariners up 48-35 with 4:18 left in the third. After a layup by Verboven cut USJ's deficit back to single digits, Mitchell closed the quarter with back-to-back layups by Watson and McKenna to expand the lead to 53-42 heading to the fourth.
The Mariners led by 10 with 5:59 remaining and finished the game with 17 unanswered points to seal the victory. Mitchell shot 39 percent for the game and went 9-for-24 from deep, with McKenna providing a game-high five treys.
Mitchell will next play at Eastern Nazarene College on Wednesday, March 17 at 6 p.m. USJ returns to action at home against Connecticut College on Saturday, March 13 at 11 a.m.