Cincinnati, Ohio—On Wednesday, November 24, the Women's Basketball program of Mount St. Joseph University played host to the Yellow Jackets of Defiance College. This game served as the opening game of the 2021-2022 Heartland Conference Season for the Lions. The Mount entered this competition (2-2), after an impressive weekend win over Heidelberg. Throughout this afternoon's game Defiance was able to remain hot shooting the ball, as the Lions fell short 83-70
Defiance opened the scoring this afternoon, knocking down two consecutive jumpers to gain an early four point advantage over the Lions. After another three-point shot by the Yellow Jackets, the Lions found themselves in an early 7-0 hole. At this point the Mount found their footing, assembling a 5-0 run starting with Freshman Anyiah Murphy knocking down a deep ball, followed by Shelby Turner getting a steal and running the floor for an easy fast-break layup.
With 4:22 remaining in the first quarter the Lions were still trailing 12-5, coming out of a media timeout. This timeout served as a launching pad for the Mount, as Keylasia Pouncy found the bottom of the net on a corner three. On the ensuing possession Pouncy was able to score again, bursting past a Yellow Jacket defender for an easy layup. After Maddie Haberthy knocked down her first pair of free-throws and Chloe Jensen converted a layup the Lions finished the first quarter on a 9-2 run, that helped cut their deficit to 15-14.
The Yellow Jackets started the second quarter of play hot, knocking down a their first two three-point attempts and making good on a fast-break attempt. This began a 12-2 Defiance run, giving them a 27-16 lead with 5:56 left to play in the first half.
Haberthy finally ended the Defiance run, converting on a fast-break three pointer, followed by a Murphy deep ball the next time down the court. Despite the Lions best efforts, they were outpaced by the Defiance, entering the half trailing by a score of 42-25.
The Lions surrendered a quick score to Defiance to open the second half, however Murphy responded with a deep ball of her own. This seemed to return some momentum to the Lions, helping Haberthy find Carlee Daulton deep in the corner for another three-pointer.
At the 7:30 mark in the third quarter the Mount turned up the defensive pressure, helping force several Defiance turnovers. As the Lions defense continued to force turnovers, Habberthy and Jensen made good on two consecutive fast-break attempts, shortening their deficit to 54-37 halfway through the third quarter. After a continued back and forth scoring by both teams the Lions entered the final stanza of play down 63-46
With their backs against the wall, the Lions began their crawl back into the ball game. Early in the fourth Habberthy got hot, attacking the basket, finishing on a tightly contested layup and converting the and-one after knocking down a free throw. Several possessions later Murphy came up with a steal, starting a fast-break in which Jensen found Haberthy behind the arc for an easy three. This was followed up by Pouncy continuing her impressive performance, grabbing her own rebound and converting an old-fashion three point play.
After a bit of a lul in action the Lions began to put a run together, knocking down a corner three after an easy fast-break score. This helped the Lions shorten the Defiance lead to 75-62 with three minutes remaining.
Pouncy came off the bench to provide a spark once again, as she found her way through the lane for an easy bucket, and Haberthy capitalized on another three-point try. However at this point Defiance was able to shut the door on any comeback hopes of the Lions, seeing them fall short 83-70.
Despite the hard fought loss the Lions did see several players record impressive performances. Murphy and Habberthy led the team in scoring, turning in 18 point performances each. Along with the 18 point performance, Murphy came away with 5 steals and 5 rebounds, leading the team in each category. Additionally Jensen and Pouncy finished with double digits in the scoring category both with 10 points each.
Following this game the Lions will prepare for their second HCAC opponent in as many games, Anderson University. This game will be played on Saturday, December 4 at the Harrington Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 2PM. For continued coverage of this upcoming game and all other Mount Athletics continue to follow msjlions.com
