Women’s Basketball Rallies Past Mount St. Joseph

The Anderson University women's basketball team erased a 19-point deficit in the second half and rallied past Mount St. Joseph University with a 61-58 victory during Saturday's Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) matchup in Cincinnati.

Mount St. Joseph (7-7, 4-3) built a 32-17 lead at halftime and held a 45-26 lead with 5 minutes, 46 seconds left in the third quarter. During the next 6:57, Anderson sparked a 19-2 run, cutting Mount St. Joseph's lead to 47-45 with 8:49 left in the fourth quarter. The Lions did not make a field goal during the run.

Mount St. Joseph's Ali Winchester snapped the run by taking a steal back for a layup. Paige Williamson drained a 3-pointer to cut the lead to one. After a basket for the Lions by Hailey Guingrich, Sydney Sierota completed a bucket-and-1 to tie the game at 51-51 with 5:24 to go. Bella Larrison made a layup to put the Ravens ahead 53-51. After Mount St. Joseph's Morgan Jenkins tied the game at 53 with a layup, Williamson immediately responded with a 3-pointer to put the Ravens up by three. Anderson recorded stops on the next five Mount St. Joseph possessions. Karlee Mills drained a 3-pointer for the Lions to cut the score to 57-56 with 32 seconds to go. After splitting a pair of free throws, the Ravens came up with a defensive stop and split another pair of free throws. Jenkins cut the lead to one with a basket. Williamson made two free throws, extending the lead to three for Mount St. Joseph's final possession. One more defensive stop sealed the win for the Ravens.

"Our team did an incredible job of overcoming adversity in the first half and really locked in after halftime," Coach Jon Gin said. "Coming out strong after halftime has been a big point of emphasis for us after Christmas Break. We did a great job of not letting the first half dictate our energy in the second half. I'm really proud of how we competed every possession defensively, held them to one and dones, and fought hard to make key baskets down the stretch. We've preached that we can be an elite team if we stick to doing the little things. I'm really proud of [Saturday's] rebounding effort. Mount St. Joseph is a really tough team to keep off the glass."

Anderson outrebounding Mount St. Joseph 42-40. The Ravens converted 15-of-21 (71.4 percent) shots from the free-throw line while the Lions made 8-of-13 (61.5 percent) attempts from the charity stripe. Anderson outscored Mount St. Joseph 7-2 on fast-break points.

Williamson led the Ravens with 19 points. Larrison notched 17 points, 11 rebounds and one block. Sierota filled the stat sheet with 13 points, four steals, four assists and six rebounds. Victoria Detraz contributed two points, 13 rebounds and two blocks. Lauren Smith turned in eight points while Ashley Pate rounded out Anderson's scoring with two points.

Anderson battles Manchester University (7-7, 3-4) in HCAC action on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in North Manchester.