UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio— The Mount Union women's basketball team picked up a top 25 upset Sunday afternoon defeating No. 15/22 John Carroll 77-69.
Mount Union starts the season off with two wins over opponents receiving votes or ranked in the top 25 coaches and D3Hoops polls.
The Purple Raiders (2-0) were led by
Elizabeth Mason (Alliance / Marlington) with 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Reese Triplett (New Philadelphia / Tuscarawas Central Catholic),
Chelsea Evanich (Alliance / Marlington) and
Lily Scott (Youngstown / Ursuline) all had double digit scoring performances with 14, 12 and 12 respectively.
John Carroll (0-2) was led by Cami Elliott with 14 points.
Mount Union led 4-3 early on in the first quarter off a layup from Mason and Triplett. John Carroll used a 7-0 lead through the middle part of the quarter taking a 10-4 lead. Mason closed the lead to within four with two free throws but a 6-0 run from John Carroll pushed the lead out to double digits at 16-6. Mason and Triplett grabbed a basket each over the final minute of the quarter as Mount Union trailed 17-10.
Evanich powered her own run for the Raiders scoring all eight points in an 8-4 run to start the second quarter as Mount Union pulled within three at 21-18 just three minutes into the quarter. John Carroll pushed the lead back out to seven with five minutes remaining in the quarter but Mount Union responded with a 6-3 run over the final five minutes as Triplett connected on a jumper with .1 left in the quarter as Mount Union trailed 30-26 at the halftime break.
Mount Union came out of the halftime break and opened with a 6-0 run with Triplett picking up four points in the run and taking a 32-30 lead. John Carroll tied the game up at 32 but a a layup and three-pointer from
Tess Conroy (Valley View / Cuyahoga Heights) pushed the lead out to 37-32 with 6:04 remaining in the quarter. John Carroll got within one with but Mount Union used a 22-10 run which saw the Raiders shoot eight of 10 from the field over the final 4:42 of the quarter to take a 59-46 lead into the final quarter.
Mount Union got a lead of 17 in the fourth quarter as Conroy hit a layup to push the lead out to 65-48 with 7:54 remaining. John Carroll put up a fight outscoring Mount Union 8-0 over a minute of action getting within nine. John Carroll kept getting closer with 4:10 left they hit a layup pulling within four at 67-63. Mount Union had a response as Scott propelled the lead back out to eight with 1:34 remaining with two jumpers. John Carroll got within four once again but two free throws from Triplett and two from Mason ended the comeback for John Carroll with Mount Union taking the 77-69 victory.
Mount Union remains on the road heading to Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania with a match up against Geneva on Wednesday at 7 pm.
