Thursday, December 20, 2012
by Dane Neumeister

The College of Mount St. Joseph rolled out to a double-digit halftime lead, and utilizing a strong inside game went on to register a 66-46 win on Thursday night at Kalamazoo College. The Lions, 3-6 overall, are idle until Dec. 29 when they head to Chicago, IL to take on North Park University.

The Mount led nearly the entire first half - with the exception of an early 3-2 Kalamazoo advantage - thanks to a strong inside offensive game. The Lions held their largest lead of 13, 32-19, with 56 seconds to play in the opening half when Melanie Monahan (Mason, OH/Bishop Fenwick) made two free throws. Monahan helped lead the first half charge for the Lions, firing in 12 points while teammate Tara Dennis (Batavia, OH/Williamsburg) added eight points and four rebounds. Alex Donald chipped in three points and six rebounds in the opening half while Heidi McManus (Bethel, OH/Williamsburg) had six, first-half points. The Mount held KZoo to 25 percent shooting in the first half, including four-of-13 from beihind the three-point arc. The Lions had only three turnovers in the first half, while forcing 11 Hornets' miscues.

The Lions increased their lead to 50-31 early in the second half, again parlaying a strong inside attack, shooting 54 percent from the field in the second half, and never looked back. Their largest lead of the game was 24 points, the last at 3:44 to play, 64-40. The Hornets shot only 22 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes of action.

Dennis finished with a game-high 18 points, added eight rebounds and had three blocks while Monahan, 12 points; and McManus, 11 points, each scored in double figures. Monahan added seven rebounds while Donald finished with eight points, a game-high 10 rebounds, and two blocks. The Mount won the rebounding battle, 51-44.