The Scots held off a late charge by Missouri Baptist and earned a 66-59 win in the semifinals of the AMC Championship Semifinals
BATESVILLE, Ark. – The No. 1-seeded Lyon College women’s basketball team held off a late fourth-quarter rally by No. 4-seed Missouri Baptist and earned a 66-59 victory in the semifinals of the American Midwest Conference Championship on Friday night at Becknell Gymnasium.
The Scots improved to 12-1 on the year and will host No. 2-seed Columbia College in the championship game of the AMC Championship on Monday night at 7 p.m.
The Scots and Spartans traded leads early on in the first quarter before a three-pointer by Jade Giron nailed a three-pointer that put Lyon ahead, 10-8. Lyon went on to extend its lead to 13-8 on a pair of free throws by Giron before Missouri Baptist trimmed the deficit to one with just under two minutes left in the quarter. Ashley Reichert and Blysse Harmon added a pair of free throws each for the Scots as Lyon led, 17-12, after the first quarter.
The Scots began to distance themselves from the Spartans in the second quarter and extended their lead to 32-17 with 4:51 left in the period on a layup by Paige Kelley (pictured). MBU pulled back within 11 momentarily before Lyon ended the quarter on a 6-0 run and led 40-23 at the half.
After a low-scoring third quarter by both teams, the Scots pushed their lead to 60-40 midway through the fourth period on a layup by Klaudija Bacovic. The Spartans put together one final charge and used a 13-0 run to pull back within seven, but that would be as close as Missouri Baptist would get the rest of the way as the Scots held on for the win.
Kelley recorded her fifth double-double of the year as she finished with a game-high 18 points and 10 rebounds. Giron and Marleigh Dodson also finished in double figures with 14 and 10 points, respectively.
Article by Matt Jagodzinski, Assistant Athletic Director for Media and Communications
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