SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – With the score tied, junior Kylie Townsley drained a jumper with 29 seconds left to help the Spring Arbor University women's basketball team upset No. 22-ranked Huntington University 58-54 at the SAU Fieldhouse on Wednesday night.
Townsley finished the game with a season-high 23 points while also recording seven rebounds and five steals to guide the Cougars to their first win over a Top 25 ranked opponent since Nov. 30, 2011.
"I am so proud of our team tonight," said head coach Ryan Frost. "We showed a lot of poise down the stretch to finish things off. Huge game from Kylie with a big shot at the end."
The Cougars pounced on the Foresters (14-7, 4-5 CL) early on, racing out to a 16-2 lead less than five minutes into the contest. Townsley fueled the effort with 14 points and three steals as the visitors had no answer to SAU's high pressure defense.
Huntington settled in though and began chipping away at the deficit before grabbing its first lead of the night late in the second quarter. A 6-0 run gave the Foresters a 31-28 edge, but a Townsley three-pointer in the closing seconds of the period sent the teams into the locker rooms knotted at 31-31.
After HU opened the third quarter with a bucket, Spring Arbor would score nine unanswered points, highlighted by a triple from sophomore Autumn Goggin, to pull ahead 40-33 at the 5:45 mark.
The Cougars maintained their lead into the fourth quarter, but the Foresters had one more run in them. A basket from freshman Ryann Laier gave SAU a 53-48 lead with 6:05 remaining, but the visitors would tally six straight points over the next four minutes to take a one-point advantage.
A free throw from junior Rachel Driesenga evened the score, and the Cougar defense would come up with two key stops setting the stage for Townsley game-winning shot. Junior Karly Bender would then step to the charity stripe and sink a pair of clutch free throws to clinch the victory.
Huntington converted almost 41 percent (22-for-54) of its shots compared to Spring Arbor's 37 percent (21-for-57), but the Cougars held a slight 36-34 edge in rebounds. SAU also forced the Foresters into 19 turnovers, converting those giveaways into 25 points.
Driesenga and Goggin scored eight points apiece while Driesenga also hauled in a game-high 11 boards. Senior Jessica Mabry and sophomore Faith Johnson dished out four assists each.
Spring Arbor (11-10, 3-6 CL) will aim for its third consecutive win when it hosts Mount Vernon Nazarene University (10-11, 4-5 CL) on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 1 p.m.
Women's Basketball Contact: Chris Bauman | 517-750-6504 | christopher.bauman@arbor.edu
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