SPRING ARBOR, Mich. - Fans got extra action Tuesday afternoon as the No. 6 Marian women's basketball team took an extra five minutes to outlasts a pesky Spring Arbor team. Marian picked up the 87-86 victory over the Cougars for their second Crossroads League win of the season. The Knights are now 7-1 overall and 2-0 in league play.
Marian and Spring Arbor traded points throughout a majority of the first quarter before a bucket by
Abbey McNally and triple by
Josie Trabel sprung the Knights ahead 20-15, forcing the Cougars to call the timeout. After the break,
Ella Collier continued the run for the Knights with the and-one play, adding to the 10-4 run put together by Marian in the final three minutes to hold the the 25-19 advantage after quarter one.
The Knights kept the pressure on in the second quarter as
Aliyah Evans found McNally for the shot in the lane to start the scoring. Trabel knocked down a pair of freebies before
Kinnidy Garrard gave Marian their first double digit lead at 31-21 with 5:31 left to go in quarter. Spring Arbor was not going away as they began to claw their way back by going back and forth with Marian for the next few points, but it was Garrard having the answer for the Knights by scoring eight points in the quarter. A layup by the Cougars cut their deficit to single digits again with 2:44 to go, but a 6-0 run capped off by a Garrard step through at the buzzer gave Marian the 43-29 lead at the half.
Spring Arbor started to find their pace in the third quarter, outscoring Marian 22-18. Collier and Evans got the scoring started for the Knights to extend their lead to 47-31 with 8:19 to play, but the Cougars continued to stick with the visitors as they began cutting away their deficit. Spring Arbor put the pressure on over the next few minutes with a 10-5 run before Trabel found Evans on the cut, who laid it in with the foul to put the Knights back on top 55-41. A pair of free throws from the hosts with 1:32 to go allowed them to come within seven, but a Collier drive with two ticks remaining on the clock gave Marian the 61-51 favor heading into the final quarter.
Collier scored the quarter's first points before Alana Nelson gave the Cougars fuel with her three-pointer. Spring Arbor began their comeback as the began eating away at the Marian lead. The Cougars found themselves trailing by only five with 6:39 to go before a 9-4 spurt put them within striking distance at 69-67. Garrard ended the run with a free throw, but Spring Arbor was not letting up as they evened the score with a three at 74-74 with 1:12 to play. The Cougars seemed to be at a good place with 13 seconds left after taking the 77-74 lead. However, Collier was not letting the story be over quite yet as she canned the step back triple with two seconds left to send the game into overtime at 77-77.
Spring Arbor came out firing first by scoring the first four points, before Garrard hit two free throws to give Marian their first points of extra time. Free throws were the game for the next seven points between the two teams, with the Cougars holding the 84-83 advantage with 36 seconds to go. Marian used their final timeout to try and shift the momentum, but a two-pointer by the Cougars put them back on top by three. Evans answered for the Knights with a bucket to put them within one before Collier took her defender to the hole, scoring the layup with 2.2 seconds left on the clock to help Marian escape with the 87-86 win.
Collier's 28 points led Marian, as she also pulled down seven rebounds. Garrard had her second game in a row with a double double, going for 18 points and 12 rebounds, while McNally also poured in a double double with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Trabel and Evans scored 15 and 10 respectively, with Evans and
Jayla Wehner each dishing out a game-high five assists.
Marian will have a quick break before traveling to Taylor on December 2 for a 1 p.m. tip off.
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