Women's Basketball Wins Another After Downing LTU

(Lansing, MI)-- The Cleary Cougar women's basketball team took down another WHAC opponent, as they won for the third time in their last four games after taking down Lawrence Tech Saturday evening at Gannon Gym in Lansing.

After Riley Merryfield drained a three to start the game, and added another just moments later to give Cleary an early 6-0 lead, the Cougars would control the game the rest of the way, going up by as many as eight points in the first quarter, and holding on to a 19-14 lead through the first ten minutes.

LTU would narrow the gap some in the second quarter, but Cleary would not blink, as Taedom Stein and Amy Jackson combined for 11 points in the quarter, and the Cougars held a 32-28 lead at the break.  The Blue Devils would cut into the Cougar lead almost immediately in the third quarter, and tied the game at 35-35, but Cleary quickly responded and retook the five-point advantage behind a layup from Mileisha Rodriguez and an Amy Jackson made three.  The lead would grow to seven when Amelia Storm made an acrobatic layup at the halfway point of the quarter, and a Blue Devil run would narrow the lead to only two points with two minutes remaining in the quarter.  Cleary would score once more before the buzzer sounded, and led 47-43 going into the final ten minutes.

The fourth and final quarter was the highest scoring one of the game, as the two teams traded punches and combined for 49 points in the final ten minutes.  Mileisha Rodriguez would make all three of her field goal attempts in the final ten minutes, and hit 3-4 free throws to score 9 points in the fourth quarter, while Taedom Stein made 8-10 free throws.  A Riley Merryfield three pointer and floater helped seal the deal, as Cleary would expand their lead to 11 with just over one minute remaining, as the Cougars went on to win by a 73-66 final score.

Taedom Stein had a game-high 22 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists.  Amy Jackson hit four threes to help get her to 15 points, while adding 4 rebounds, and 4 assists.  Mileisha Rodriguez chipped in her 7th double-double of the campaign, with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Cleary never trailed in the game, and shot 43% from the floor, while holding LTU to 39.7% shooting.  Cleary also held the advantage at the free throw line, with 21 made free throws on 32 attempts, to LTU's 5-8 shooting from the stripe.

The Cougars improve to 4-14, 4-8 in the WHAC, and will return to the road on Wednesday, January 17, when they travel to Ft. Wayne to take on the Indiana Tech Warriors.  The game will start at 5:30 PM.