Lauren Carter scored 27 points, one less than Mount Union scored as a team, and Bellwood-Antis rolled to a 58-28 blowout victory over the Lady Trojans.
Carter, who was matched up defensively against Mallory Corbin, held the Mount Union star to only four points. Corbin scored 26 in her previous game.
Offensively, the Lady Trojans had no answer for Carter. Constant double teams were not enough to stop Carter from making layups the entire night. On the rare occasions that Carter missed a shot, she often got her own rebound and scored anyway.
“Lauren has really stepped up into a leadership role, and tonight she shut down Mallory Corbin, who is probably Mount Union\’s best offensive player,” Bellwood-Antis Head Coach Nick Lovrich said.
Mount Union scored the first and last basket of the first quarter, but managed nothing in between as Bellwood-Antis mounted an 18-0 run to take most of the drama out of the game early.
The force behind the early run was senior point guard Jamie Smith, who scored 10 of her 11 points in the quarter.
“Jamie is our general on the floor. We set a goal of having less than 15 turnovers tonight. We met our goal, and she\’s a big part of that,” Lovrich said.
Bellwood-Antis continued to pour it on in the second quarter. Leading 18-4, Carter made a layup, and Ashley Lechner nailed the first of her two 3-pointers to give the Lady Blue Devils a 19-point advantage.
Stanna Stewart scored six of her 10 points in the second quarter, but her effort didn\’t even chip into Bellwood-Antis\’ lead thanks to a Lady Blue Devil offensive attack that was completely locked in.
Liz Erickson added a hook shot, and Amanda Ingram made the first of her two treys, late in the first half to give Bellwood-Antis a 34-12 lead at the break.
Mount Union never gave up, and with the help of Toyia Price\’s nine points in the third quarter, the Lady Trojans actually outscored Bellwood-Antis 11-10 in the quarter.
However, chipping away one point from a 22-point deficit over an entire quarter usually doesn’t lead to comebacks, and it wasn\’t destined for Mount Union on this night either.
Price missed two free throws early in the fourth quarter and fouled out shortly thereafter, and with her exit, left any hope that remained within the Lady Trojans.
Leading 44-25, Brittany Webb made two free throws for the Lady Blue Devils to start a 12-0 run that put the game completely out of reach.
After a Mount Union basket, Chelsea Young capped off the scoring for Bellwood-Antis with a layup. The Lady Trojans made a free throw, one of only six they made in the game on 18 attempts, in the game\’s final seconds to make the final score 58-28.
“The major factor in tonight\’s win was our determination and drive. The ladies really wanted to get that first win, and we had a couple really good practices,” Lovrich said.
Junior Varsity
Despite holding a 19-13 lead at halftime, the junior varsity Lady Blue Devils were unable to get a win that would have been their first in over a year. Stanna Stewart dominated the inside on her way to scoring 17 points in the 39-33 Mount Union victory. Amanda Ingram headed up a valiant effort for Bellwood-Antis with 14 points while draining two 3-pointers. Ashley Lechner added nine points while only playing the first half.
Bellwood-Antis 58 Mount Union 28
BELLWOOD-ANTIS – Smith 2 6-8 11, Lechner 2 0-0 6, Webb 0 2-2 2, Erickson 2 0-0 4, Carter 13 1-3 27, Ingram 2 0-0 6, Hunter 0 0-0 0, Young 1 0-0 2, Lombardo 0 0-0 0, Parson 0 0-0 0, Riley 0 0-0 0, Shultz 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 22 9-13 58
MOUNT UNION – Price 4 1-4 9, Corbin 2 0-0 4, Brown 1 1-2 3, Green 0 0-0 0, Courson 1 0-2 2, Stewart 3 4-6 10, Atherton 0 0-2 0, Moore 0 0-2 0, Walters 0 0-0 0.
TOTALS 11 6-18 28.
Score By Quarters
Bellwood-Antis 18 16 10 14 – 58
Mount Union 4 8 11 5 – 28
Three-point goals: Bellwood-Antis 5 (Ingram 2, Lechner 2, Smith 1). Mount Union: None
