Lady Cardinals Win Thriller on Mass Freethrow

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The Lady Cardinals returned to "The Nest" to battle with TAAC foe Ottawa Hills. The slow starting Cardinals found themselves down 8-6 after one quarter and trailed the Green Bears 22-20 at the half. The Lady Cardinals won the third quarter 13-12 but still trailed 34-33. The fourth quarter presented many challenges for the young Cardinals as they saw the defecit rise to 7 points late in the final quarter. But they turned up their full court pressure causing some Green Bear mistakes.

Staring at a 3 point defecit late in the game. Freshman Maggie Merren drained a 3-pointer to tie the score at 48. A defensive breakdown allowed Ottawa Hills to counter with a three of their own to take a 51-48 lead with less than a minute to play. The Lady Cardinals were able to convert a Green Bear turnover to points to tie the game at 51. Defensive pressure forced one more turnover, giving the Lady Cardinals the ball at half court with 6 seconds remaining. The Cardinals were able to find Senior Abby Mass inside and she was fouled with 1.5 seconds remaining. After an Ottawa Hills timeout, Mass missed the first of two but buried the second to secure the 52-51 comeback victory.

Sophomore Cecelia Gozdowski led all scorers with 14 points. Senior Abby Mass contributed 12 points. Freshman Maggie Merren tossed in 10 points. Junior Caty Rieker and Freshman Kali Hardy closed out the Lady Cardinal attack with 9 and 7 points respectively. The win brings the Lady Cardinals to 8-7 overall and 6-4 in the TAAC