Lions' women's basketball team falls in nail biter to Defiance College, 69-56

The Mount's women's basketball team squared off in an HCAC showdown Saturday afternoon at the Harrington Center with the Defiance College Yellow Jackets. The Lions return to the floor Jan. 18 at Transylvania University.

The Lions lost a tight one this afternoon to the Yellow Jackets. The game was much closer than the final 69-56 score suggests as the Mount was within five points of Defiance with a minute and a half remaining in the game.

The Lions played an effective first half on both sides of the ball while trading the lead with the Yellow Jackets for most of the half. The Lions went into half with the lead at 25-24 after senior guard Courtney Cole (Vevay, IN/Switzerland County) layed the ball in with 1:26 left on the clock. Cole led the Mount at half with eight points, three boards, one assist, and one block in 17 minutes of play.

The first half saw three lead changes and two ties. The Lions went into half leading in points in the paint (14 to 12), second chance points (four to two), bench points (11 to five), and slightly outshot Defiance from the field (34.5 percent to 32.3 percent).

The Lions got off to a good start in the second half pushing their one point lead to five in the first four minutes of the half. The Mount would hold onto the lead until the 13:16 mark when Defiance grabbed the lead with a jumper knotting the score at 35-34. From that point forward the Lions would tie the score three times before taking the lead one last time with 4:58 left in the game after senior forward Katie Jo Collins (Cincinnati, OH/Mercy) made a layup. What turned out to be a close game for 35 mintues of play would dollop into a 13-point margin of victory for the Yellow Jackets in the final 4:44 of play after they reclaimed the lead for the rest of the game. Erica King of the Yellow Jackets scored 12 of her 18 points and 12 of Defiance's last 18 points in the final five minutes of the game hitting three consecutive three-pointers to put the Lions away for good.  

Collins finished the game with her third double-double of the season grabbing 12 boards to go along with 12 points and two blocks. Cole did not score in the second half and finished with eight points, three assists, one block, one steal, and three rebounds in 31 minutes of action.

Alex Donald (Litchfield, ME/Oak Hill) and Shelbi Benzinger (Covington, KY/Scott) came off the bench to put up seven points apiece. Donald added one board, two assists, and one block. Benzinger added five rebounds and three assists.