Cincinnati, OH – The Mercyhurst Women's Basketball team traveled a few hours west to Xavier University this evening. A career high game for
Jenna Van Schaik and strong performance on both ends of the court were not enough as they fell 68-53 to the Musketeers.
How it Happened
Tonight's matchup began with seven straight points from the Musketeers from a couple jumpers and free throws. It wasn't until three minutes had gone by when
Bailey Kuhns made a layup and three for the Lakers. This was followed by a great steal by
Jenna Van Schaik that she turned into a made layup on the fast break to tie the game. Van Schaik then won the ball back again and hit a two-pointer to give the Lakers their first lead of the night. The first quarter of action ended with Xavier taking a 16-14 lead on a layup made by Meri Kanerva in the final minute.
The second quarter remained 16-14 for the first minute and a half due to a few missed shots from both sides. Aizhanique Mayo opened the scoring with a layup off of a Laker turnover. The Musketeers would then go on a 17-3 run to give them a 35-18 lead on the Lakers. This large margin was quickly shortened by a big three-point shot from
Allyson Ross. This three sparked some strong play from the Lakers as Xavier would not score for the remaining 3 minutes of the game. A couple made free throws and layup on the fast break from
Jenna Van Schaik sent the Lakers into the locker room down 35-25 at halftime.
The third quarter included back-and-forth action between both sides. With five and half minutes remaining, Xavier took a 48-30 off of a Daniela Lopez layup. Then, the Lakers began chipping away at their deficit when they went on a 12-0 unanswered run in for the last five minutes of the quarter. This sequence was capitalized by a three-point jumper from
Jenna Van Schaik that had the Laker bench raving. The Lakers were only down 48-42 heading into the final quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Musketeers started off hot. They added to their tally from a couple layups by Tae'lor Purvis and Daniela Lopez.
Bailey Kuhns made a layup on an offensive rebound that started to give the Lakers some hope again. A couple more Musketeer layups by Roig Garcia and Loren Christie kept the lead by 11 for Xavier. The lead was shortened to nine after
Bailey Kuhns made another great move into the paint for a layup. With 3 and a half minutes to go. However, the Lakers were unable to bounce back as the Musketeers would go on to win 68-53.
Highlights
Jenna Van Schaik led the Lakers with 22 points tonight. This was a career high for the Junior playing in her hometown of Cincinnati.
Bailey Kuhns was 7-17 on FG attempts tallying 16 points.
Allyson Ross was dominant both in the paint and outside the arc as she hit four three-pointers and collected five rebounds.
Loren Christie led the Musketeers with 18 points. Not only was she 7-11 on FG attempts, she also tallied eight rebounds. The Musketeers had seven players score six or more points, perhaps one of the biggest differences in tonight's game.
Up Next
The Lakers will cross the PA/Ohio border again to face Youngstown State University. Tipoff for that matchup is set for Tuesday, November 19th at 11:00 AM. Viewers can find live coverage on ESPN+.
