Box Score
Lethbridge – A night after moving above the .500 mark with a win over the UNBC Timberwolves, the Lethbridge Pronghorn were unable to make up for a rough shooting night fell 69-65 to Mount Royal Cougars. The loss drops the ‘Horns to 4-4 on the season while the Cougars improve to 2-6 in their first season in Canada West.
Hillary Annich came off the bench to lead the Cougars with an 18 point effort, while fellow substitute Jordan MacLean chipped in with 11. For the ‘Horns Ali Cameron lead all scorers with 23 points, despite a 7 for 22 shooting night. Post Erin Skippon contributed with 13 points and point guard Katlyn Olsen had a good rebounding night picking up 13 boards, all defensive.
Coming into the night, the ‘Horns were the top three point shooting team in the conference, hitting on 39.4% of their attempts but on this night they struggled from behind the arc as a team making only three of 25 and finished the night shooting a dismal 33.9% from the field.
On the other side, statistically the Cougars were only slightly better 39.9% but were clutch down the stretch when the game was on the line, hitting important shots late in the shot clock and killing any Pronghorn momentum.
“We got the looks we wanted tonight, but when they didn’t drop our energy at the defensive end disappeared,” said Head Coach Erin McAleenan after the loss. “We gave up too many uncontested shots and didn’t contain their penetration.”
“We out-rebounded them and beat them in the last 3 quarters, but we’ve got to play 4 quarters to win games. Hopefully it is a good learning experience moving forward,” McAleenan continued.
Both teams struggled offensively to open the game, with the Cougars without a point for the first three minutes, but it was the Pronghorns who remained ice cold throughout the opening 10 minutes of play. The ‘Horns were 2 for 14 from the floor in the opening quarter and fell behind 12-6. While the ‘Horns improved offensively in the second quarter scoring 20 points, but the Cougars were able to match any runs the ‘Horns were able to go on and maintained the lead into the break, 31-26.
While the ‘Horns were able to claw back in the second half, cutting the lead to two after three quarters and taking their first lead since the opening moments of the game early in the fourth, they were unable to hit timely shots or get stops at the defensive end of the floor.
The ‘Horns will head out on the road for the final weekend of the first semester, traveling to the West Coast a pair of CIS ranked opponents in the seventh ranked Victoria Vikes and tenth ranked UBC Thunderbirds. The Cougars will close out 2012 hosting the ninth ranked Saskatchewan Huskies and Alberta Pandas.
