Lady Cougars add a loss and victory

The MVNU women’s basketball team (3-4) picked up one loss and one win last week, falling to Wilberforce University (2-4) 64-54 on Tuesday and knocking off Ohio Christian University (3-2) 60-51 on Friday.

In the game against Wilberforce, the Cougars trailed by 11 points in the second quarter. They fought back and cut the deficit to two going into halftime.

In the third quarter, sophomore Rachel Parks poured in nine of her 15 points to give MVNU a 44-36 lead entering into the final period. But sven fourth-quarter turnovers led to the Lady Cougars’ fourth loss of the season.

Freshman Dani Ellerbrock chipped in 12 points for the night.

The Cougars, led by junior Sierra Basista, rebounded with a victory over OCU Friday night. Basista poured in 19 points. Ellerbrock recorded nine points and pulled down six rebounds.

“Basista stepped up for us and shot the ball really well,” Head Coach Amanda Short said.

Short was disappointed with the way the Cougars’ handled the ball, but overall pleased with the Cougars’ “great team win.”

“We came out with a lot of energy on both ends of the court,” she said. “We still had a lot of turnovers, but we made up for it in other areas.”

The Lady Cougars were 19 of 42 from the field and 86 percent from the free throw line. MVNU recorded 20 turnovers on the night.

Short said the key to the win was forcing Ohio Christian to take bad shots. The TrailBlazers made just 32 percent of their shots.

Basista said Friday’s victory helped the team’s confidence.

“The win on Friday showed the talent we have when we work together,” she said.

The Cougars will host Marian, the No. 1 seed in the nation, on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

“Hopefully, going into Tuesday, we’ll have that same winning mindset,” Basista said. “It doesn’t matter what Marian does, but it does matter how we show up for practice on Monday and the game on Tuesday.”