ALLIANCE, Ohio – Mount Union's women's basketball team defeated Muskingum 79-73 in Ohio Athletic Conference play on Saturday afternoon.

The Purple Raiders (14-8, 6-7 OAC) had four players score in double figures with junior Elizabeth Mason (Alliance / Marlington) leading the way with a game-high 20 points. Sophomore Chelsea Evanich (Alliance / Marlington) scored 13 points with sophomore Kayla Ferancy (Amherst / Amherst Steele) scoring 11 and junior Tess Conroy (Valley View / Cuyahoga Heights) adding 10 to round out the Raiders in double digits.

The Fighting Muskies (10-11, 3-9 OAC) were led by Mckinzi Linscott who scored a team-high 15 points, with Julia Jaenke and Claudia Harrington both scoring 14 points.

Muskingum jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead over the first three and a half minutes of the game, Mount Union would answer though with an 8-0 run over the next 1:20 of action to claim their first lead of the game. The Muskies would then go on to end the first quarter on a 14-2 run to take a 10-point 20-10 lead into the second quarter. The Raiders would then answer with another run of their own to open up the second quarter, going on a 10-3 run over the first 5:05 of the quarter to cut the lead down to just three with 4:57 remaining in the first half. The teams would trade baskets back-and-forth over remainder of the half as Muskingum would take a 34-31 lead into the halftime break.

After trading baskets back-and-forth to open the second half, the Muskies would go on a 7-2 run over the next 1:56 of action to stretch their lead out to 11 at 48-37 with six and a half minutes remaining in the third quarter. The Raiders would answer once again with a 12-3 run of their own over the next 3:35 to cut the lead down to just two points with just under three minutes to play in the third quarter. Mount Union would continue cutting into the lead as they would end the third quarter on a 6-1 run to tie the game at 55 apiece heading to the fourth and final quarter. The teams would go back-and-forth over the course of the fourth quarter with the lead never growing to larger than three, with the game being tied twice and the lead changing hands three times over that span before the Raiders would close the game on a 10-1 run to claim a 79-73 victory.

The Raiders hit the road next when they travel to Tiffin to take on Heidelberg on Wednesday, February 11 at 7 p.m.