Rodriguez's Double-Double Not Enough for Cleary at Point Park

(Pittsburgh, PA)-- It was a career day for Cleary's Mileisha Rodriguez, as she posted a career high in points and tied a career high in rebounds, but it would not be enough for the Cougars as they lost a non-conference game to the Point Park Pioneers Tuesday afternoon in Pittsburgh.

The Pioneers would open the game on a 16-2 run, but the Cougars would answer on an 8-3 run to finish the opening quarter.  The second quarter was a much more balanced battle, but the Pioneers expanded their lead by two when it was all settled, and Cleary went into halftime trailing 34-23.

Point Park would start the second half strong, ultimately building their biggest lead of the game at 27 points, as the hosts outscored Cleary 21-8 to take control of the game.  Cleary would fight back, however, and got the deficit to 16 points at the final whistle.  

Mileisha Rodriguez scored 10 points in the final quarter as part of her career day.  She ended the game with 20 points on 8-18 shooting, 15 rebounds, and 4 blocked shots.  It was her second double-double wearing a Cleary uniform.  Riley Merryfield added 13 points off the bench, and Taedom Stein scored 10 points to go with 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals in the game.  All six Cougars that played scored in the game.

Cleary drops to 1-11 overall, and will be back in action in 2024 when they return to WHAC play against the Cornerstone Golden Eagles on Wednesday, January 3 at Gannon Gymnasium.  The game is scheduled for 5:30 PM ET.

*Picture courtesty of Dan Zeppa*