Taking care of the basketball was a struggle for the Spring Arbor University women's basketball team on Monday, as the Lady Cougars committed 22 turnovers in a 65-60 loss to visiting Madonna University.
Madonna scored 19 points resulting directly from Spring Arbor turnovers and also sported an advantage off the bench, as the Crusaders outscored the Cougars 27-24 in that category.
A tightly contested first half saw the two teams trade punches throughout the opening twenty minutes of play. April Adams led Spring Arbor in the opening frame, scoring seven points on 2 for 5 from the floor including making good on her only three point effort if the half. Kaylee McGrath led the visitors, also netting seven points on a 3 for 6 performance, including 1 for 2 from behind the arc. The Crusaders scored just before the buzzer to take a 34-31 lead into the break.
The second half mirrored the first, as neither team led by more than eight points in the contest, but it was Madonna who enjoyed the edge throughout, and it was Heather Pratt who gave the Crusaders their largest lead of the game with a three pointer with 8:49 left to play.
Spring Arbor trimmed the lead to two points on two separate occasions late in the contest, but could not find the push they needed to grab a lead. The Cougars were within two (59-61) with one minute left to play on a Megan Bement three pointer, but the Crusaders stretched the advantage to four with a Rachel Melcher bucket with 38 seconds remaining and then sank their free throws down the stretch to ice the game.
Adams led three Lady Cougars in double digits, as she poured in 12 points on 4 for 9 from the floor. Teammates Kelly Bruggeman and Melissa Tejkl tossed in 11 and 10 points respectively, while Tejkl grabbed 13 rebounds to record a double-double performance.
McGrath and Pratt led Madonna with 14 points apiece.
Spring Arbor is back in action on December 29th when they will face off with Malone College on the campus of Concordia University in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The game is scheduled to tip off at 2:00 p.m.
