Cougar girls escape L’view’s final rally

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

The Van Wert Lady Cougars were without a doubt happy to escape the Lincolnview High School gymnasium with a win after the Lady Lancers took them down to the wire in a 47-45 non-conference game on Thursday.

The Lancers got out early and led by five, 15-10, after a quarter of play. The Lady Cougars then outscored Lincolnview 10-8 to trail by a trey, 23-20, at the half. Van Wert finally got its offense untracked in the third quarter, outscoring the Lady Lancers 16-6 to go up by seven points, 36-29, with a quarter left to play.

The final stanza was back and forth, but the Lady Cougars were able to can some important free throws down the stretch to escape with the two-point win over scrappy Lincolnview.

With the victory, Van Wert is now 4-6 overall, while the Lady Lancers drop to 8-3 on the year overall.

Erin Morrow led the Cougars with 16 points, while Alexis Dowdy added 14 and Alexa Dunlap had 13 points for Van Wert. Only two other Cougars scored in the game, and had four total points between them. Katie Dye was the top scorer for Lincolnview with 16 points, while Julia Thatcher and Claire Dye both added 10 points for the Lady Lancers.

Van Wert made 16 of 40 field goal attempts for 40 percent, including 1 of 7 from three-point range (14.3 percent). The Lancers were 15 of 39 from the field (38.5 percent) and hit 2 of 5 three-point attempts (40 percent). The Cougars were 14 of 20 from the free throw line (70 percent), while Lincolnview made 13 of 16 from the charity stripe (81.3 percent).

Van Wert dominated the boards, pulling down 30 rebounds (11 offensive) to 16 (4 offensive) for the Lancers. The Cougars had 20 turnovers to 18 for Lincolnview. Both teams made all but three points in the paint during the game, while the Lancers edged Van Wert in steals, 15-14.