Cougar girls get win over Spencerville

Van Wert independent sports

The Van Wert Lady Cougars had to overcome a scrappy Spencerville squad to eke out a 71-65 non-conference victory over the Lady Bearcats on Tuesday.

It was an unusually offensive performance for Van Wert, which is not typically a high-scoring team. The Cougars shot more than 60 percent from the field, although only 1 of 6 from three-point range, but were only 12 of 23 (52.1 percent) from the free-throw line. Spencerville shot 42 percent from the field, and was 13 of 18 from the charity stripe (72.2 percent).

Van Wert came out shooting and took a 9-point lead, 19-10, at the end of the first quarter. The Bearcats came back, though, outscoring the Cougars 22-16 in the second quarter to trail by a trey, 35-32, at the half.

Van Wert led by only a point, 51-50, heading into the final stanza, but Cheyenne Handy scored eight of her 14 points in the fourth quarter to help the Cougars to the victory. In addition to Handy, Van Wert had two other players in double figures, led by sophomore Alexis Dowdy’s 16 points, while classmate Erin Morrow added 10 points.

Spencerville’s Abby Freewalt led all scorers with 21 points, while Alyssa Mullholland added 20 points, including four treys.

With the win, the Cougars are no 2-3 on the year, while Spencerville is 1-4 overall.

The Van Wert junior varsity squad also won, edging the Bearcat JVs 44-41 in a hard-fought contest.