FORT WAYNE, IN – It was close, but the Lady Cougars just couldn't catch the Warriors of Indiana Tech as Spring Arbor fell to the host school 66-60 in the finals of the SportONE Holiday Classic in Fort Wayne, IN.
Spring Arbor started well and finished well, but struggled at the end of the first half and the start of the second half. The Cougars built an eight point lead (12-4) on a Carlie Newman 3-pointer with 14:49 remaining in the first half of play, but SAU could not sustain their momentum and would trail Tech 35-27 at the break.
Coming out of intermission, Spring Arbor would score first and cut the lead to six points but Tech would construct a 13 point lead with 8:08 remaining in the game.
Spring Arbor made it interesting as time was winding down and with 17 seconds remaining in the game, Aimee Konkel hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to four points, 60-64.
On Indiana Tech's inbound play, Konkel fouled out and sent Tech's Preonda Reese to the line for two free throws. Reese missed both but the Cougars could not make good on the opportunity and Tech would convert on two free throws for the final result and the win.
"Their athleticism hurt us today," said Coach Ryan Frost. "We fought hard at the end but we dug ourselves into too big of a hole. This is one that we need to learn some hard lessons."
Newman would pace the Cougars with 23 points including a perfect 3-3 from beyond the arc. Jenna Jamieson would add 12 points for Spring Arbor. April Adams hauled in 10 rebounds for the Cougars.
The Cougars fall to 6-9 as they head into the meat of League play starting January 2, when they travel to Winona Lake, IN to take on Grace College at 7:00. Grace is 1-2 in Crossroads League action while Spring Arbor is 0-3 and looking to make up some ground.
