Purdue Fort Wayne
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Saginaw Valley
Lewis-Carlisle's 23 Not Enough as 'Dons Fall in Close Game
1/6/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 6, 2007
Fort Wayne, IN - Junior Johnna Lewis-Carlisle's 23 points led all scorers for the day, but a late run by the Cardinals of Saginaw Valley State would hand the 'Dons their first loss of the new year. The Mastodons fell, 67-65 to the Cardinals on Saturday afternoon at the Gates Center.
"We allowed a team to take one from us," said Head Coach Chris Paul. "I have to give them credit. They played hard and battled for every shot and made their shots."
The game started off in favor of the Cardinals, when at the 16:22 mark they were up by six, 8-2. The 'Dons would start to cut away at the lead, tying the game up at 15 with 13:05 left in the half.
A lay-up by Tina Moen would give the 'Dons a four point lead just a minute and a half later. IPFW would hold Saginaw Valley at bay from there, and take a five point lead, 26-21 with 5:10 to go. After two good shots by Natalie Roberts the 'Dons were up by nine.
After a good shot by the Cardinals, Lewis-Carlisle would hit a three-pointer to give IPFW their largest lead, 10, with 2:50 left in the half. An 11-3 run by the Cardinals would cut IPFW's lead to two, finishing the half, 36-34.
Lewis-Carlisle started the second half off right for IPFW, hitting two from beyond the arc to take their lead to eight, 42-34. Another run by the Cardinals would tie the game up at 42 with 15:20 to go.
It was back-and-forth from there before IPFW began to hit their shots, taking another eight point lead with 11:41 left, 55-47. With 7 minutes left the 'Dons still held a seven point lead, after Ashley Johnson hit a good shot, 59-52.
At the 5:30 mark the 'Dons continued to dominate. But the Cardinals rallied again, going 8-1 to cut IPFW's lead to one with 2:15 left. Saginaw Valley State would take just their second lead of the half with 1:33 to go, 66-65. One free throw later they had the win, 67-65.
"We just were not shooting well. We have to figure out a way to put a team away when we have a lead. The ladies need to be mentally and physically stronger in these situations.
"We are still teaching them to win, and that in and of itself is a learning process for a program that hasn't had a lot of success in previous years. The ladies need to learn that even if things don't always go their way they can recover."
Lewis-Carlisle's hit 4 of 10 three-pointers and 3 of 5 free throws. She added five boards, assists and steals to her 23 points.
Johnson and Roberts each had 10 points. Johnson had six boards and four assists while Roberts had seven boards, a block and two steals in 19 minutes.
Saginaw Valley State was led by Valerie Smith with 21 points. Latille Ross had 18 points and nine boards while Jenna Schroeder had 13 points.
The Mastodons (7-7) will now have a week off before heading to Belmont University on January 15th. The ladies will host the Butler Bulldogs on January 20th in the Gates Center. Game time is 1 PM.
~Dons~
