Women's Basketball taken down by Maranatha
| Published: 02/08/2013 |
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MILWAUKEE — With top scorer Megan Kroll out due to injury, MSOE fell behind early to Maranatha Baptist and could not come back, losing 64-35 Friday night in a Northern Athletic Conference game at the Kern Center.
Kroll (Fr./Weston, Wis./ME) suffered the injury during the Raiders' 62-42 loss at Alverno Tuesday night and was ruled out prior to the game. Her 14.7 points per game average is the third-best in the NAC. Without Kroll, MSOE (2-19, 2-13 NAC) not only lost its top scorer but also key depth.
Maranatha (15-5, 11-5 NAC) took advantage of Kroll's absence by looking to run early on. The Crusaders dominated the first half, scoring 18 points off turnovers and making two-thirds of their shots (16-of-24) while allowing the Raiders to shoot just 28 percent from the field. With a halftime lead of 38-17 and a 55-20 advantage at one point during the second half, Maranatha coach Clayton Morrison was able to give significant minutes to his reserves.
MSOE never found its offensive touch, shooting just 17.2 percent in the second half and 22.2 percent for the game. Bre'Ana Strong (So./Howell, Mich./Nursing) scored 11 and Shannon Larson (Jr./Naperville, Ill./Nursing) had 10 to pace the Raiders. Hallie Sheley scored 15 to lead Maranatha, while Autumn Peotter had 12 points and Kaitlyn Rygh had 10 rebounds.
Maranatha secured the final spot in the 2013 Northern Athletic Conference Tournament with the win. The loss was the second-straight for the Raiders since a win over Edgewood last Saturday.
The game was originally scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday night, but was pushed back one day after a storm dumped over six inches of snow on the MSOE campus and made travel in Southeastern Wisconsin hazardous. As a result of the Friday rescheduling, the game started at 5:30 p.m. to accomodate a previously scheduled MSOE men's volleyball match, which was played after the women's game in a rare Kern Center basketball/volleyball doubleheader.
The postponement forces the Raiders to turnaround quickly and head to River Forest, Ill. tomorrow to play Concordia Unviersity Chicago in a game that tips off at 2 p.m. The contest will be the first game in a two-game road trip for MSOE, which will play another make-up game against Edgewood in Madison on Tuesday before returning home to face Lakeland in its final game of the season Wednesday night. Courtney Leaf (Sr./Andover, Minn./AE-CM) will be honored as part of Senior Night ceremonies, while the game itself will tip-off at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at the Kern Center Box Office.
