Wednesday evening, the Marian University Ancilla women's basketball team hosted the Lansing Stars, a group trying to put themselves in position to win the Western Division of the MCCAA. While the final score was a little more lopsided than the Chargers might have hoped, they did have some nice moments throughout the contest.
Lansing came out of the gates firing and took off to an 8-0 lead. The Chargers battled back, cutting it to as close as 3 points on a couple of occasions and trailing by just an 18-14 deficit after one quarter. The second quarter was again a back & forth affair, and a couple of made 3-pointers by Freshman Bella Mahan kept the Chargers hanging around. MUAC headed into the locker down, 34-27.
The third quarter has been problematic all season for the Charger women, and once again it served as the deciding factor in a game. Lansing nearly doubled up the Chargers, 21-11, and entered the final period with a 55-38 advantage. But Marian Ancilla continued to battle, and they lost the fourth quarter by just one bucket, 9-7, before the find score read 64-45.
Mahan has shot it well during the second half of the season, and she tied for the Charger lead in scoring with 11 points. She was 3-8 from downtown, plus she grabbed 6 rebounds and 3 steals. Sophomore Samaria Freeman did another outstanding job defensively, giving up 8 inches to Lansing's 6-3 Kara Bartels at times. Bartels came in averaging just under 19 points per game. Freeman finished with 11 points like Mahan, plus she collected 8 caroms on the evening. Freshman Brooklynn Cooper made a couple of really nice hustle plays and lended a hand with her 4 assists, while Freshman post Beauti Santiago came off the bench to contribute 6 points and 8 rebounds, 4 of which were at the offensive end of the floor.
Lansing placed four players in double figures, with Peyton Anderson leading the way with 14 points. Kara Bartels (12 points), Alexandria Charles (12 points), and Alivia Densmore (10 points) were the other three. Bartels and Charles also led the Stars in rebounding with 8 boards apiece.
The Chargers are back in action tonight! They host Andrews University at 6:00 p.m. ET at Charger Arena. Please come out and support the Chargers!!
