On Tuesday January 24
th, your Mount St. Joseph Women's basketball team hosted the Defiance Yellow jackets for their third consecutive game in the Harrington Center. The Lions would dominate the majority of the matchup which was led by their defense who provided them with 14 steals which led to 30 points off turnovers.
Anyiah Murphy and
Karlee Mills were the catalysts offensively as they combined for 31 points to lead the Lions to a 72-64 victory.
           Period number one was the best offensive output for the Lions. They shot 60% from the field and 66% from the three-point line. Forward
Madison Drummonds got things going inside as she put the Lions on the board first and they would not lose the lead for the remainder of the basketball game.
Anyiah Murphy and
Morgan Jenkins were on fire from behind the arc early on as they both knocked down two triples. With the Lions leading 15-12 with 3 minutes remaining, they would go on a 9-2 run to finish the quarter.
Annabelle Williams would hit a three-point shot from the corner which was then followed by back to back fast break layups from
Karlee Mills. As the buzzer sounded, the Lions held a 24-14 lead.
           Lions wasted no time once again getting out of the gates in the start of quarter two. Murphy quickly scored four of the first 6 points as her defense led to easy offense to build the Lions lead to 16.
Carlee Daulton also stepped up in a big way as she scored the next six Lions points with dominant play on the offensive board and in the paint. Defiance would finish the quarter on a run of their own as they closed the gap to 9 before hitting a shot before the buzzer to cut the Lions lead to 39-33 at half.
           Coming out of the half, The Lions wasted no time quickly going on a 11-2 run to build their lead to 15.
Karlee Mills scored 5 points during the run as she found an open three-point shot followed by a pair of free throws. No team could pull away during the quarter as for the final six minutes each team traded baskets. In the period, the Lions were more aggressive driving to the basket and were solid from the free throw line. They shot 6/8 from the line and a very impressive 40% from the field.
           In the final 10 minutes of play, the Lions once again built their lead to over 20 points. As the Yellow Jackets started to make a run,
Annabelle Williams scored a pair of baskets to halt the run as the Lions led by 12. As the time slowly started to wind down, both teams were unable to draw any closer as the Lions defeated the Yellow Jackets 72-64.
           The Lions were led by
Anyiah Murphy who provided 17 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals.
Karlee Mills also had 14 points and 2 rebound.
Carlee Daulton was only a rebound short of a double-double as she had 10 points and 9 rebounds.
           Up next for the Lions they will travel on the road to Bluffton University on February 1
st for an important HCAC matchup in the late season. Tip off is scheduled for 7:30PM
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