Saturday, February 02, 2013
by Dane Neumeister

Defiance College, out-shot from the field by the Mount in the game, fired in 15-of-19 second half free throws today, en route to a 74-72 win over the Lions in the Harrington Center. The Mount, 3-18 overall, 2-12 in the HCAC, return to action on Feb. 6 when they play at HCAC-leader Transylvania University.

The Mount rolled out to a 43-35 halftime lead today, thanks to shooting 50 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes of action against the Yellow Jackets. Tara Dennis (Batavia, Oh/Williamsburg) led the first half charge with 12 points.

The Lions built their lead to 10 points, 51-41 with 16:22 to play in the game, after a Dennis lay-up, but saw Defiance whittle their advantage down thanks in part to solid free throw shooting, bringing the two teams tied at 56-all with 8:34 remaining in the game. The lead for the game see-sawed back-and-forth over the next few minutes, with Defiance taking a 62-61 lead on a free throw. The Yellow Jackets held onto their lead the remainder of the game, shutting down the Lions' offensive attack - the Mount went scoreless from the 6:32 mark to 1:55 left in the game - while Defiance hit nine-of-11 free throws after the 61-all tie with 6:09 left in the game. The Mount was four-of-eight from the free throw line in the second half.

Defiance held a 45-36 lead in rebounding, and forced 16 turnovers while committing 12 miscues in the game. The Lions out-shot the Yellow Jackets, 45 to 34 percent from the field, and made eight-of-16 from behind the three-point arc, compared to the visitor's six-of-16 from long range.

Dennis finished with a team- and season-high 21 points, while Melanie Monahan (Mason, OH/Bishop Fenwick) added 13 points and four assists. Lions' teammate Alex Donald (Litchfield, ME/Oak Hill) chipped in 10 points while Heidi McManus (Bethel, OH/Williamsburg) had six assists, five rebounds and three steals.