Spring Arbor, Mich. – The Marian women's basketball team erased a 12-point deficit Wednesday night, but were unable to complete the comeback as they dropped their second Crossroads League game of the season with an 81-77 loss against Spring Arbor. The loss puts Marian at 23-3 overall and 14-2 in Crossroads League play.
The two teams traded points through the first seven minutes of action before Spring Arbor got ahead seven after a 6-0 run. Aliyah Evans answered for Marian with back-to-back buckets to cut the deficit to three at 15-12. The Cougars however had the last say of the quarter as they knocked down a free throw with 17 ticks left on the clock to take the 16-12 lead after the first quarter.
The second quarter saw a lot of back-and-forth action, but it was a jumper by Sara Majorosova knocking down the jumper to spark an 8-0 run that ended with a shot from Allison Bosse to give Marian their first lead of the game at 20-18. Grace Shoobridge responded with four straight points to put Spring Arbor back up before Evans found Collier for the jumper to tie things up at 22-22. A triple by the Cougars at the 5:36 mark started an 11-2 run to give the host the nine-point advantage. Jayla Wehner ended the run with a basket of her own, but another jumper and a pair of free throws put Spring Arbor back up 11. Bosse had the last say of the quarter as she canned the triple with 36 seconds to go, sending Marian to the locker room trailing 37-29 at the break.
Spring Arbor continued their offensive efforts in the third quarter by gaining the 12-point lead with 5:27 left to play. Marian put together a 10-2 run behind the efforts of Kinnidy Garrard, Evans, and Bosse to get their team within four. Spring Arbor answered with two freebies before Collier canned the three-pointer, fueling a 10-4 run to end quarter three deadlocked at 57-57.
The final quarter of play was tightly contested, but it was a three by Majorosova giving Marian the three-point lead to start. The Cougars regained the lead after a jumper and two free throws before Majorosova connected with Evans in the lane to take back the 62-61 lead. A jumper by Spring Arbor at the 5:48 mark gave them the two-point lead that they would end up holding the remainder of the game. The Knights never gave up as Collier swished in the three-pointer with 14 seconds left to cut the deficit to 79-77. However, the hosts stepped up to knock down their foul shots to go on to win 81-77.
Collier had a game-high 21 points to go along with five rebounds, while Evans and Garrard each added 16 points. Evans had a team-high five assists, and Garrard corralled six rebounds and three blocks. Bosse and Abbey McNally scored eight and seven, respectively, while McNally also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.
Marian will return to action on Saturday when they travel to Indiana Wesleyan for a chance at a share of the conference championship.
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