Women's Basketball's Rally Falls Short in WHAC Quarterfinals

(Rochester Hills, MI)-- For he first three quarters, the Rochester Christian University Warriors controlled the game, but the Cleary Cougar women's basketball team would show plenty of heart and grit, storming almost all the way back before falling 67-58 Wednesday evening in the WHAC quarterfinals.

RCU would score first, and then second to build an early 4-0 lead.  The two teams traded points until Jess Andrew made two free throws to cut the deficit to 10-8 with just over 4:00 to play in the quarter.  The Warriors would score seven straight points to build a nine point advantage before Jess Andrew connected from deep to get the Cougars back within six points.  Two free throws by the Warriors with under a minute to play would see RCU hold a 19-11 lead through the first ten minutes.

Rochester Christian continued to connect from the floor in the second quarter, and quickly built a double-digit cushion.  A jumper by Karissa Cochran with 2:30 to play in the half got Cleary within single digits, and after a defensive stop, Melanin Holman made a layup to make it a seven point game.  With Cleary trailing by eight points, Evalyn Cole would score a layup with 0:19 left to get the Cougars back within six points.  RCU would answer on the half's final possession, making a contested jumper, and two teams went into the half with the score 31-23.

Like the second quarter, RCU would rebuild their double-digit lead by the 7:00 mark of the third quarter.  The deficit would grow to 46-31 by the 4:24 mark, and by 2:29, the score would be 52-36.  Izzy Dugal would make one of two from the free throw line, and Melanin Holman would make a three, cutting into the Warrior lead.  Rochester Christian would make a three late to answer, and led 55-40 with one quarter remaining.

After RCU opened the fourth quarter with a pair of free throws, and answered a pair of Samantha Hoelscher free throws with a three pointer, to build the largest lead of the game at 60-42, Cleary would mount a furious comeback attempt.  Samantha Hoelscher would convert an and-one to start the rally, and then Karissa Cochran would make a three pointer, cutting the deficit to twelve points.  Jess Andrew kept it going with a jumper, forcing a Warrior timeout.  After the timeout, Izzy Dugal made a pair of layups, followed by a Melanin Holman jumper, and two free throws by Holman, to make the score 60-58, all part of a 16-0 Cougar run.  Cleary would get a stop with 1:30 to play in the game, but Samantha Hoelscher's contested layup attempt would be off the mark, and the Warriors would secure the rebound.  On the Cougar defensive end, RCU would make a jumper late in the shot clock to make the score 62-58.  Cleary's attempted response would miss the target, and the Cougars would be forced to foul to try and extend the game.  The Warriors would convert their free throws, handing the Cougars a season ending loss by a score of 67-58.

Izzy Dugal had a team high 16 points to go with 6 rebounds in the game.  Jess Andrew would add 13 points and 6 rebounds, while Melanin Holman also had 13 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals off the bench.

Cleary ends the season with a 14-15 record overall.