by Costa Mesa, Calif. – In what could have been the GSAC game of the Week, #11 Vanguard and #9 Concordia couldnt settle things in the standard 40 minutes. It took OT until CUI would take the 88-83 victory, with many of the calls going against Vanguard in the final minutes.
Riley Holsinger (Nez Perce tribe) scored 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, going 17-21 from foul line. Samantah Doucette was her partner in crime, scoring 26 points on an efficient 10-18 shooting from the field. Amber Alexander (JR/Grand Blanc, MI) came up big with 10 rebounds and three steals, as her presence was dearly missed after fouling out midway through the overtime period.
Rocky does not begin to describe the Lions struggles in the opening part of the first half. Concordia shot out of the gate with 9-1 and 15-4 advantages. With 8:59 to go before the intermission, Doucette drilled a jumper to bring Vanguard within two points. The teams toyed back and forth until the Lions took their first lead of the game, 25-24, with 3:01 remaining.
At halftime the score was knotted at 30-30, as neither team scored in the final fifty second of the half.
Concordia boasted a 8-0 difference in paint points and was plus-5 in points off turnovers. They also outscored VU 12-3 in points off the bench.
One of the reasons Vanguard was able to stay in the game was shooting 10-11 from the charity stripe and CUI hitting only 50% from the free throw line. The Eagles coughed up the ball only five times while the Lions turned it over 10 times in the first half. Their season average hovers around 10 per game.
Vanguard shot 29% from the field and only 2-7 from downtown. Concordia’s FG percentage was 33 and they hit 5-14 three pointers.
The first half was a two man wrecking crew for the Pride on the scoring end, but Jamie Goff and Amber Alexander came up with many big rebounds to stifle the Eagles second chance attempts. Doucette shot 5-11 on route to 14 points. Holsinger put in 13 points (7-8 from the foul line) and four boards.
The second half started off much the same, with both teams jockying for position. Vanguard led by four at the 14:17 mark. They would push the lead to 49-42 with 12:30 left in regulation. Concordia slowly crept back to tie the game at 52-53 with just under 10 minutes left.
Over the next nine minutes, the Eagles seized control leading by as many as eight points with 3:19 left. With 1:02 left and Concordia leading 71-76, Doucette dropped in a big jumper to cut the lead to three. After a careless turnover by CUI, Holsinger drilled an off balance three pointer with 4.1 seconds remaining forcing the game into overtime.
During the overtime period, Concordia led the entire time, aided by some iffy calls at best. Including a huge gap in shot three throws during the second half and the extra period.
Vanguard travels up to Westmont College on January 27th for a GSAC tilt starting at 5:30 p.m.
