INDIANAPOLIS – The No. 8 Marian women's basketball team continued Crossroads League play tonight with the 71-64 win over Spring Arbor at the PE Center. With the victory, the Knights move to 7-1 overall, 2-0 in CL action.
The first quarter was all Marian to start with Abbey McNally getting things going with a shot in the paint before Aliyah Evans knocked down two baskets to take the 6-0 lead to start. Spring Arbor finally responded with a layup and a free throw. Once again it was the Knights going on an 8-0 run with Ella Collier having the first six and Sara Majorosova hitting the jumper. The Marian defense held the Cougars to seven points in the quarter, ending the first up 19-7.
Marian struggled to find their groove in the second quarter with Spring Arbor outscoring the Knights 22-16. The Cougars scored the first four points of the quarter until Allison Bosse hit a jumper to push the Marian lead to 21-11. However, it was the visitors striking back with the 14-4 spurt that tied things up at 25-25. With the score even, Evans ended the scoring drought for the Knight as she knocked down the mid-range shot before Kenna Gray gave Marian a spark off the bench, scoring five points in the quarter.
It was Spring Arbor with the momentum to end the second quarter, but it was Bosse canning in a triple at the buzzer to send Marian into halftime with 35-29 lead.
After halftime, the third quarter was a battle between the two teams as they traded points back and forth through the first few minutes of play. Spring Arbor continued their hot shooting to start the quarter, and eventually took their first lead of the game at 42-41. Marian was able to hold the 49-44 advantage going into the final period of play after Collier hit two threes and Evans hit a bucket.
The Knights grabbed the first points of the fourth quarter with a triple from Collier, starting a 9-4 run. The Cougars would not back down as they continued to claw their way back, cutting the lead back down to one at 61-60 before Kenna Kirby hit a pair of free throws to put the lead back up to three. With 1:16 left to play, Spring Arbor hit a free throw to get within one, but it was Majestic Sales coming off the bench and hitting a big shot to give her team the three point lead with 42 seconds remaining.
Even after the late push by Spring Arbor, Collier was able to step up and knock the freebies down the stretch to help her team hold off the Cougars and go on to win 71-64.
Collier led all players with 23 points to go along five assists, while Evans played an all around game scoring 18 points, dishing out seven assists, and adding five rebounds. Bosse finished with 11 points and five steals, while McNally pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds to go along with eight points.
Marian will return to action Wednesday, November 30 as they travel to Bethel for a 7 PM tip-off.
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