Marian University women’s basketball (6-11, 4-7 NACC) snapped an 11-game losing streak against Lakeland defeating the Muskies 66-62.
The two squads traded blows in an offensive opening quarter opening with a 13-12 Marian lead. The Muskies then used a 9-2 run in the final 2:51 of the first stanza to take a 21-15 advantage into the first break. The Sabre defense then had a dominating second quarter holding the Muskies to just 3-of-18 (.167) shooting from the field. A 9-3 run from Marian to open the quarter tied the game at 24-24, and then an 8-2 spurt to end the quarter put Marian ahead 34-29 heading into the locker room.
Marian continued to use their momentum to open the third quarter scoring the first 10 points of the quarter to build a 15-point advantage, the largest lead of the game. The Muskies were able to trim their deficit down to 52-42 heading into the final quarter, however. The Muskies opened the final quarter with an 8-1 run to cut the Marian lead down to three and eventually took the lead at 58-57 with 3:11 left to play. This forced a Marian timeout that the Sabres used to their advantage as Marian would score seven unanswered points to take the lead for good. Marian then went 4-for-4 from the charity stripe in the final minute to cap off a 66-62 win.
The Sabres finished the game 19-of-27 (.704) from the free throw line in the victory.
Senior Paris Harris had a dominant performance posting a double-double with 18 points and 17 rebounds, all defensive. Fellow senior Sierra Strope-Robinson chipped in 15 points, while junior Brianna Martin added 14 points. Another junior in Claire Levendoski nearly missed a double-double grabbing 10 boards with nine points, three assists, and a pair of steals.
Marian travels to Dominican Saturday, January 29 for a 2 p.m. tip in NACC action.
