The Bellwood-Antis Lady Blue Devils outscored the Mount Union Lady Trojans 33-31 in the first, second and fourth quarters.
Unfortunately for the Lady Blue Devils, Mount Union outscored Bellwood-Antis 24-4 in a third quarter that decided the game.
Things started well for Bellwood-Antis when Allison Sinisi made a fast break layup. Baskets by Jenna Ralston and Lauren Carter made it 6-0 in favor of the Lady Blue Devils.
Stanna Stewart put Mount Union on the board with 2:58 left to play in the first quarter with two free throws. Toyia Price attempted to cut the lead in half, but was rejected on a fast break by Carter. Jamie Smith stretched the Bellwood-Antis advantage back to six with a layup before Mallory Corbin hit the first of her four three-pointers to cut the Lady Blue Devil’s lead to 8-5 at the end of the first quarter.
Corbin got the Mount Union offense started again in the second quarter with a jumper that cut Bellwood-Antis’ lead to one, but Carter responded with a jumper of her own to regain the three point edge.
Mount Union took the lead for the first time in the game moments later when Stewart made a layup and Price followed with a steal and layup of her own to give the Lady Trojans an 11-10 lead. After a Bellwood-Antis timeout, Corbin and Price hit two more baskets to stretch the lead to five, but the Lady Blue Devils responded with a 9-0 run.
Sinisi started it with a three-pointer that quieted the Mount Union fans. Carter added a layup, and Sinisi hit a jumper to give Bellwood-Antis a 17-15 lead. Lindsey Claar capped off the run with a layup, before Mount Union outscored the Lady Blue Devils 5-2 to end the half.
The 21-20 halftime lead for Bellwood-Antis did not last long.
The Lady Trojans came out storming in the second half and had a 24-4 run throughout the entire third quarter. Corbin scored eight of her game high 26 points in the quarter and Price added six.
Carter scored 3 points on a layup and a free throw for Bellwood-Antis in the third quarter while Ralston added a free throw, but that was all the Lady Blue Devils could manage.
“Things just didn’t go our way. We had a lot of turnovers, and they were just making shots,” Bellwood-Antis head coach Nick Lovrich said.
The game evened back up in the fourth quarter, but the 44-25 Mount Union lead was too much for the Lady Blue Devils to overcome. Carter scored three more points to post a team high 14, and Brittney Webb scored five points in the game’s final minutes. Two successful free throws by Bellwood Antis’ Shalee Hunter ended the scoring with the Lady Blue Devils coming up short, 55-37 in a game much closer than the final score indicated.
Stephanie Hatch, who was injured in Wednesday’s game against Moshannon Valley, watched the game on crutches, but may be back next week according to Lovrich.
“They played their hearts out, and nothing negative can be said about this team tonight; we played with pride,” Lovrich said.
The Lady Blue Devils will next be in action at 7 p.m. Monday when they host Penns Valley. The junior varsity game will begin at 6 p.m.
Bellwood-Antis 37 Mount Union 55
Bellwood-Antis – Sinisi 3 0-0 7, Ralston 1 1-2 3, Carter 6 2-6 14, Smith 1 0-0 2, Claar 2 0-0 4, Webb 2 1-2 5, Hunter 0 2-2 2, Riley 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 15 6-12 37.
Mount Union – Stewart 1 2-2 4, Corbin 9 4-5 26, T. Price 6 3-3 16, O’Donnell 0 1-2 1, Eaton 2 0-04, Kurtz 1 0-0 2, C. Price 0 1-2 1, Green 0 1-2 1, Worthy 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 19 12-16 55.
Score by Quarters
Bellwood-Antis 8 13 4 12 – 37
Mount Union 5 15 24 11 – 55
Three-point goals: Bellwood-Antis 1 (Sinisi 1).
Mount Union 5 (Corbin 4, T. Price 1)
