UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio—The Mount Union women's basketball team outscored John Carroll 28-19 in the fourth quarter to complete the 63-58 comeback win in Ohio Athlete Conference play Wednesday night.
The Purple Raiders (8-14, 5-10 OAC) were led on offense by freshman
Elizabeth Mason (Alliance / Marlington) with 27 points and nine rebounds including eight of eight from the free throw line.
Senior
Lily Sweeney (Sylvania / Sylvania Northview) finished the game with 12 points.
John Carroll (12-10, 7-8 OAC) was led by Ava Ryncarz with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
FIRST QUARTER
John Carroll got on the board first with a three, but Mason responded with two layups to take a 4-3 lead. Both teams traded baskets as Mount Union led 9-8 with 5:48 remaining in the quarter. John Carroll pushed the lead to 16-13 but a bucket by junior
Dae Dae Nash (Akron / Buchtel) with 16 seconds left brought the lead down to 1.
SECOND QUARTER
Both teams played tough defense to start the quarter as neither team scored the first three minutes. John Carroll however pushed the lead out to 21-15 before a layup from Mason. John Carroll once again went on a 7-1 run, but Mount Union got the last bucket with 1:29 left in the half as sophomore
Mckayla Dunkle (Cadiz / Harrison Central) hit a layup to trail 28-20.
THIRD QUARTER
John Carroll pushed its lead out to 34-24 but Mount Union stormed back with an 8-2 run as Mason scored four points in the run to trail 36-32. John Carroll hit three free throws the rest of the quarter as Nash had three points as well to keep the lead within four going into the final quarter.
FOURTH QUARTER
John Carroll once again pushed the lead out to five with eight minutes left in the game leading 44-39. A 9-5 run including a three each from Sweeney and freshman
Abby Muckleroy (Canfield) to get within one with 4:50 remaining. John Carroll picked up three free throws to lead 52-48 with 3:24 remaining. Mount Union took the lead on two layups from Mason and a layup from sophomore Addi Mucci (Canton / St. Thomas Aquinas). John Carroll tied the game up at 56 with 59 second remaining but Mason took over icing the game with six free throws in the final 48 seconds to grab the win.
The Raiders now head home and will honor Sweeney in Senior Day on Saturday against Heidelberg at 1 PM.