Feb. 18, 2009

Final Stats

ADRIAN, Mich. - The final home game of the 2008-09 season proved to be a roller coaster ride as Adrian and Kalamazoo fought through sloppy play and a ton of whistles before the Bulldogs claimed a 75-73 win over the Hornets to improve to 14-9 overall and 7-8 in the MIAA. The Bulldogs also snapped a four-game losing streak and earned a season sweep of the Hornets (0-22, 0-15 MIAA).

The Bulldogs had a lot of fun in the first half leading 39-24 at halftime. Adrian jumped out to a 16-7 lead in the first 7:28 after a layup by senior Jenny Carlson, who played in her final home game and finished with four points in nine minutes. The Bulldogs increased their lead to 22-9 at the 10:51 mark as Ashley McClarren made back-to-back layups prompting a Kalamazoo timeout.

Adrian pushed their lead to 39-19 with 3:55 remaining in the half after a pair of Elysia Norris free throws. Adrian had 18 points off turnovers in the first half and got 11 points off their bench. AC shot 44.8 percent in the first half and were 4-of-7 from behind the arc. Kalamazoo had 15 turnovers in the first 20 minutes and shot 37.5 percent.

Adrian led 55-39 with 11:58 to play when the Hornets began to make their run. Kalamazoo scored seven straight points to cut the lead under double digits at 55-46 at the 10:47 mark. Carmen Dorris began knocking down three-pointers and finished the game with 19 points to lead Kalamazoo. Dorris entered the game averaging 5.9 points per game. AC held the lead at nine points up until the 4:53 mark at 66-57 after Carlson's other bucket in the contest.

The final 3:05 saw Kalamazoo really put the pressure on Adrian. The Hornets went on an 8-0 run over 1:11 to cut the lead to 70-68 with 1:54 left to play. Liz Hafeli made two free throws to stretch the lead to four with 1:34 left. Dorris hit a leaning jumper with 1:11 on the clock to make it a one-possession game again. McClarren had a fast break layup with 39 seconds left to go up 74-70. McClarren split at the foul line with 25 seconds to play making it 75-70. Andrea Bedway made it a one-possession game with a jumper in the lane with 15 seconds left.

Anita Stamps coughed it up and Michelle Maiuri made a steal on the next possession. Maiuri fed the ball to Carly Zeitlin who was fouled by Stamps for her fifth of the game. Zeitlin split at the line missing the first and Adrian took the ball out under the basket. Norris was trapped in the corner and before committing a turnover a timeout was called by Hafeli with three seconds to go. Adrian inbounded the ball into the frontcourt and Megan Bouwens ran out the clock before a foul could be committed. There were 52 fouls called and a total of 70 free throws for the game. Adrian went 23-of-38 (60.5%) at the charity stripe while Kalamazoo was 21-of-32 (65.6%).

McClarren led Adrian with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor. Jennifer Perrin added 13 points making 5-of-6 at the line and 2-of-3 behind the arc. She also had five assists and three steals in 31 minutes. Bouwens scored 11 points including nine in the second half and also grabbed six boards. Norris chipped in 10 points reaching double figures in scoring for the second time this season. She was 3-of-7 from the floor and grabbed four boards in 19 minutes.