The MU Ancilla Women's Basketball Team took to the road to take on Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor, Michigan looking to remain in prime position to host a 1st round Region XII playoff game. In their first meeting of the year, it was the Chargers who made a late rally to take a 58-56 win on Samaria Freeman's rebound basket and free throw that gave MU Ancilla the win in a very hotly contested and emotional game between the two teams. Lake Michigan, who held their Sophomore Day before the game, was definitely ready to play as they jumped out very quickly to a 8-0, 16-2, and 18-4 leads in the first quarter. Lake Michigan was dominant on the offensive glass where they found 2nd and 3rd chance baskets and also scored in transition off of MU Ancilla missed shots. The Red Hawks took that momentum into the 2nd quarter where they scored the first 4 points to increase their lead to 22-4.
It looked like this was definitely going to be Lake Michigan's day as they had all of the momentum and energy. However, the Chargers had different ideas. After stringing together a couple of stops, MU Ancilla finally found their shooting and slowly started to chip away at the lead. Alexis German hit a big 3-pointer to get the Chargers' offense going as the momentum started to shift a little bit. The last 3 minutes of the first half saw MU Ancilla cut the lead from 18 points down to 12 points. Two more stops to end the half followed by baskets led to just a 30-22 deficit at the half.
Coach Gould stated how key it was to end the half strong. "We talked at the end of the 1st quarter about how it took us 10 minutes to get behind by 14 points and that we were not going to make up those 14 points in the first 2 minutes of the second quarter. We set the goal of getting the lead down to under 10 points by halftime and to their credit, the girls made huge plays in the second quarter to get that lead down to 8 points. We started to rebound much better on the defensive end and we made some shots. Even as we were down 16-2, I didn't think we were taking bad shots. We just needed someone to step up and knock one in. Alexis hitting that big 3 early in the second quarter got our confidence going a little bit."
As the second half began, it was Lake Michigan who started off strong, getting their lead back to 12 points before the Chargers who got back to work. MU Ancilla slowly started to get the offense going while also mixing up their defenses to keep LMC off balance. A quick 6-0 run got the Red Hawks lead down to 6 points. The teams traded baskets before another run put the Chargers within two points at 45-43. After a late defensive rebound with 24 seconds left in the quarter, MU Ancilla held for one shot. Jayci Allen found Kyra Duncan on a back-cut under the rim. Duncan made the layup at the 3rd quarter buzzer to tie the score at 45.
"I thought getting the score tied at the end of the 3rd quarter was huge for us. We were able to take a deep breath and talk about how it was now just a 10 minute game. The energy level was on our side and our group became much more vocal both on and off the floor. While our bench is small in numbers, I thought whoever was out of the game was really engaged and encouraging which helped us."
The 4th quarter saw back and forth action over the first 4 minutes with both teams taking the lead. Lake Michigan took a 52-51 lead at the 5:40 mark before the Chargers responded with 2 points at the free throw line from Jayci Allen to give the MU Ancilla the lead back at 53-52. The Red Hawks got a huge 3-point shot with 3:50 left in the game for what turned out to be their last lead of the game. Jayci Allen responded again with an offensive rebound and basket to tie the game back up at 55. After a Charger timeout, it was the defense that took over the game, holding LMC to just 1 point over the last 3:21 of the game.
After two defensive stops by both teams, it was MU Ancilla who took a timeout with 2:20 left in the game with the score tied at 55. Kyra Duncan caught the ball on the wing on a pass from Alexis German and attacked the basket, knocking in a 5 footer to give the Chargers a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the game. Duncan made a key steal at the other end of the floor to regain possession. After working the shot clock down to 5 seconds, it was Alexis German who made a huge 3-pointer from the wing to give the Chargers a 60-55 lead with only 56 seconds left on the clock.
MU Ancilla forced a turnover followed by 2 made free throws from Jayci Allen to make it a 62-55 score. The Red Hawks made one free throw on their next possession to cut the lead back to 6 but they would not score again. Alexis German and Nicole Swain combined for 3 out of 4 from the free throw line to end the scoring at 65-56 as the Chargers finished the game on a 10-1 run.
After being down 22-4, the Chargers dominated the scoring the rest of the game, outscoring Lake Michigan 61-33 which included a 42-25 second half score. The Charger defense stepped up, holding LMC to 38 points over the final 3 quarters.
Coach Gould credited the players for their toughness in pulling out the win. "This was a really intense and highly emotional type of game. The first game was very intense as well. They did not like that we snuck out that first win and were ready for us today, especially with it being their Sophomore Day. I thought we didn't do a great job of matching their intensity early in the game but the girls figured it out. Sometimes you have to dig deep, play with some emotion, and not back down. I felt like both teams played really hard but we had a little bit extra at the end. Sometimes teams are going to go hard after each other and some rivalry will develop but that is what can make sports great."
The Chargers were excellent at the free throw line, finishing 23-28 while only turning the ball over 6 times. With the win, the Chargers move to 19-8 on the season and 7-4 in the MCCAA Western Division. They hold a 1/2 game lead over Southwestern Michigan for 3rd place with one game remaining. If the Chargers can win their final game on Tuesday against Kellogg, they will clinch a 1st round home playoff game.
