ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – To start the week, your Mount St. Joseph Women's Basketball team went on the road to play in the St. Pete Classic down in St. Petersburg Florida. In the first match the Lions would take on Lawrence University who they would fall to by the score of 52-64. Despite the score, the Lions found themselves in a battle for most of the game as the bench scored a season high 41 points. On Tuesday, the Lions would defeat North Park University 63-46. The Mount shot 49% from the field which boosted them for their third win on the season.
Game One: MSJ – 52 Lawrence University – 64
The Lions would start their week on Monday taking on Lawrence University. Like most of the season, the Lions would start the game with a back-and-forth affair looking to pull away. With the Vikings leading by two early, Freshman
Morgan Jenkins would connect on a three-point jump shot to put the lions ahead. Jenkins would then find the bottom of the basket a couple more times by the end of the period giving her 8 points at the end of the first. Lawrence would score with less than 5 seconds remaining in the period as the Lions took a 19-18 lead into the second.
The second period of play was a much slower start offensively,
Shelby Turner got the Lions going as she create a steal and find
Anyiah Murphy for the fast break layup to put the Lions up 3. After a Vikings three,
Morgan Jenkins continued her hot start with back-to-back jumpers to pull the Lions ahead by 4. Lawrence University would close the half on a 8-1 run as the Lions would trial the Vikings 31-26 at the break.
At the start of the second half, the Lions would find themselves trialing by 7 after a couple of early Vikings baskets. Free throws would keep the Lions in the game as they shot 6-7 from the line in the third period. With 4:43 left to play in the third,
Chloe Jansen would earn another fast break basket for the Lions to cut the lead to one. The Vikings would once again finish the quarter on a big run which lead to the Lions trialing by 14 going into the 4
th.
In the final period, the Lions slow start caused the Vikings to build upon their lead. Freshman
Karlee Mills would provide solid offense for the Lions in the final quarter scoring 10 points while shooting 2-3 from the three-point line. Defensively the Mount held the Vikings to only 12 points in the quarter as Lawrence shot a game low 22% from the field. The comeback would fall short as Mount St. Joseph was defeated 64-52.
The Lions were led by the freshman duo of
Karlee Mills and
Morgan Jenkins. Mills would provide 15 points while shooting 60% from the field, and Jenkins added 14 points of her own also shooting an impressive 60% and adding 4 rebounds.
Game Two: MSJ – 63 North Park – 46
In the Mount's second and final game of the trip, they would go up against North Park University on Tuesday. The Lions fast start out of the gates would earn them a 13-point lead after the first and would remain holding the Vikings under 30% shooting for the remainder of the game. The offense was centered around scoring points in the pain and taking advantage of Vikings turnovers as the Lions scored 30 in the pain and 20 points off turnovers.
In quarter number one, Junior
Madison Drummonds started the game off with back-to-back short jump shots in the paint to give the Lions a 4-3 lead. From that point on the Lions would be in full control of the game as they would never lose the lead. The next four made baskets for the Mount would come from behind the arc as
Karlee Mills,
Morgan Jenkins, and
Anyiah Murphy built the Lions lead to 13. In the final possession of the 1
st, Murphy would create a steal and lay it in on the other in to give the Mount a 18-5 lead at the end of 1.
The second period for the Lions was another steady offensive performance the Lions Jenkins, Mills, and Drummonds continued to lead the way as the Lions found themselves leading by 14 with 3:34 left to play. By the end of the period, the Lions defense held strong and free throws by
Ellie Oldendick and
Carlee Daulton put the Lions up 34-17 heading into the break.
At the start of the second half, the Vikings wasted no time trying to claw back into the game. After a pair of free throws and a couple made baskets the Lions lead was cut to 11 with 7 minutes to play in the 3
rd. Senior
Chloe Jansen would then provide the Lions with instant offense as she added 8 quick points in 4 straight possessions to build the Lions lead. With the score sitting 44-26 in favor of the Mount,
Annabelle Williams would knock down her first three-point jump shot to take the lead over 20. At the end of the third period the Lions took a 49-28 lead into the 4
th.
In the final quarter, the Lions would come out of the gates quickly as they scored the first six points to grow their lead to 25. Over the final 5 minutes of play,
Chloe Jansen would continue her dominate second half by adding a pair of layups and adding a steal. The Lions would provide stellar defense for the remainder of the final minutes and hold off the Vikings of North Park University by the score of 63-46.
Chloe Jansen led the way for the Lions as she scored 14 points and added a team high 8 rebounds and two steals.
Madison Drummonds also scored double digit points by adding 14 of her own and 5 rebounds.
UP NEXT:
The Lions will be back in action on December 28
th as they take on Asbury University in the Harrington Center, Tip-off is scheduled for 5pm.
