Trailing by one point at halftime, no one expected what was to come next for the Spring Arbor University women's basketball team. The Lady Cougar's offense absolutely caught fire and helped the team to an inspiring 68-60 victory over the #6 ranked Indiana Wesleyan University Wildcats.
In a close first half, the play of April Adams helped keep the Cougars within striking distance. The 5'10" Stanton, Michigan native scored seven of her nine points by going 3 for 3 in the final three minutes of the first half, including a three point bomb with less than 30 seconds left to pull the Cougars to within one.
Adams also put the Cougars ahead for good, as her final bucket of the game at the 10:38 mark of the second half gave the hosts a 39-38 lead that they would not relinquish. Adam's basket ignited a 16-7 Cougar run that helped SAU stretch its advantage to ten points at 55-45.
A pair of Kristen Kotarba free throws with just over a minute left to play padded the Spring Arbor advantage to an insurmountable fourteen points (64-50). Indiana Wesleyan was able to close the gap moderately over the final sixty seconds of play, but it proved too little, too late for the visitors, and the Lady Cougars completed the upset with an eight point bulge on the scoreboard.
Spring Arbor shot a modest 39% in the first half (10-26), but exploded to connect at a 74% clip in the second stanza (14-19). Indiana Wesleyan shot a cool 40% for the game (20-50). Spring Arbor also won the battle of the boards, snagging 24 rebounds compared to 19 for the visitors.
Kotarba led SAU with 16 points, seven assists and eight rebounds. Courtney Smith chipped in with 15 points and seven boards and Alex Glenn finished with 10 points for SAU. Elaine Hessel led all scorers by pouring in 31 points for IWU.
"It was nice to see the smiles on our player's faces, as the game closed out," commented SAU head coach Tara Kreklau. "They have continued to work hard through a difficult season so far. Today they proved to themselves that they can compete with the elite teams in our conference and in the nation."
Spring Arbor will be back in action on Wednesday when they travel to Winona Lake to take on the Grace College Lancers. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7:00 p.m.
