Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NORTH MANCHESTER - The Grace College women's basketball team had Manchester College in an unenviable position Monday night.
After an Amy Doron layup with 5:52 to play, Grace went ahead 59-52 and was ready to finish off the Spartans on their own floor.
But Trish Miller was just getting started for Manchester.
She made three-pointers on three consecutive trips down the floor to turn a seven-point deficit into a two-point advantage in a little more than one minute of play.
Doron would make two free-throws to tie the game at 61-61, but the momentum had shifted. Manchester scored the next four points and made free throws down the stretch to win 68-64.
"We got tentative," first-year Grace College coach Lori Wynn said. "They hit some big shots and we rushed too much."
There were a number of positives for the Lady Lancers, however. Wynn was happy with the team's intensity and felt that, overall, the team was patient offensively. The Lady Lancers equaled their season average of 57 points per game with seven minutes to play.
"For 35 minutes we played well," Wynn said. "We were patient offensively, we took good shots and I was pleased with our intensity. We did a great job."
And that was despite being even more short-handed than normal.
Although the Lancers dress only eight players, the team got thinner six minutes into the game. Danielle Mowery, who had eight points and four rebounds in the first six minutes of play, went down with a knee injury and didn't return to the game.
And with Tracey Mantegna in foul trouble for much of the game, Wynn had only six players at her disposal. After two players fouled out, Grace had just five players left for the final 10 seconds of action.
Doron led Grace with 14 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, just five short of the school record. Amilia Devros came off the bench to add 14 points, and Eve Arthur had 10.
Miller led Manchester with 19 points on 5 of 8 three-pointers, and Sarah Irish added 18. Missy Hoppe was the only other double-figure scorer for the Spartans, with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Grace (3-12, 0-2 MCC) will host Huntington College Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Manchester is now 5-6 overall.
MANCHESTER 68, GRACE 64
Grace 36 28 - 64
Manchester 34 34 - 68
Grace - Eve Arthur 4-9 2-2 10, Danielle Mowery 3-6 2-2 8, Amy Doron 4-13 6-8 14, Kari Helmuth 1-11, 3-6 6, Tracey Mantegna 2-10 0-0 4, Amilia Devros 5-7 3-5 14, Eleanor Marquis 2-4 4-7 8, Jordan Rees 0-2
0-0 0. Totals - 21-62 20-30 64.
Manchester - Sarah Irish 6-16 3-6 18, Angie Andrew 2-7 0-0 5, Trish Miller 7-12 0-1 19, Linda Cash 3-5 0-0 6, Missy Hoppe 4-10 2-2 10, Libby Borror 0-2 0-0 0, Amber Mowery 2-2 0-0 4, RaChelle Spearman 0-2 0-0 0, Pam Eckert 0-3 2-2 2, Samantha Wideman 2-6 0-0 4. Totals - 26-65 7-11 68.
Three-pointers - Grace 2-10 (Devros 1-1, Helmuth 1-7, Arthur 0-2), Manchester 9-26 (Miller 5-8, Irish 3-11, Andrew 1-4, Wideman 0-1,Eckart 0-2). Rebounds - Grace 46 (Doron 17), Manchester 37 (Hoppe 10). Personal fouls - Grace 17, Manchester 20. Fouled out - Mantegna, Marquis. Turnovers - Grace 19, Manchester 18.
