Nov. 25, 2008

Final Stats

ADRIAN, Mich. - The women's basketball team has played strong defense during their four-game winning streak and Tuesday night was no different holding Siena Heights to 1-of-18 three-point shooting in a 10-point victory over their crosstown rival. Adrian's 68-58 win marked the fourth straight game that their opponent has shot 36 percent or worse for the game. Siena Heights finished 22-of-66 from the field (33.3%) and were 13-of-21 (61.9%) at the charity stripe.

Sophomore Megan Bouwens paced Adrian with 18 points which tied her season-high set against Edgewood on Nov. 16. Bouwens was 8-of-16 from the floor with six rebounds, five steals and two blocked shots in 36 minutes. She scored in double digits for the third time this season. She scored 12 points in the first half on 6-of-10 from the field. Freshman Katie Ross scored a career-high 10 points and did not miss a shot on the night. She was 2-of-2 from behind the arc and 4-of-4 at the foul line. Ross grabbed two boards and also dished out three assists in 21 minutes off the bench. Adrian's bench had a slight 27-26 edge in point production on the evening.

Adrian shot 48.1 percent in the first half including 2-of-4 from the arc and 7-of-8 at the foul line. In the second half, the Bulldogs cooled off to 36 percent shooting (9-of-25) and 63.6 percent at the line (14-of-22). The Bulldogs got to the line 30 times and made 21 which are both season-highs.

The Saints scored the first four points off the contest but Adrian responded by making five of their first six shots to take a 10-6 lead at the 16:12 mark. Adrian built their lead to 16-10 at the 12:58 mark after a 6-0 run capped off by a pair of Liz Hafeli free throws. Siena Heights regained the lead at 19-18 at the 10:13 mark after a pair of free throws by Tanci Levit. Ashley Jackson's layup at 6:08 left in the half gave SHU a 24-20 lead. It would be their largest lead for the rest of the game as Adrian closed out the half on a 15-7 run claiming a 35-31 halftime advantage.

Adrian kept the lead throughout the second half as the Saints closed the gap to a basket on three occasions in the first eight minutes. The Bulldogs began to pull away a little bit after a JaLisha Belle jumper made the score 49-42 with 9:59 left in the game. The Saints were not done however and turned up their defensive intensity going to a full-court press and cutting the lead to 54-53 with 6:13 left. Adrian used a 30-second timeout which seemed to settle the team as they scored seven straight points to push the lead back up to 61-53 at the 3:09 mark. Adrian made 9-of-14 free throws in the final 3:09 to keep their lead and put a fourth loss in the Saints book. AC has won three of the last four meetings between the teams.