VW girls eke out upset of Lady Indians

Van Wert independent sports

Van Wert's Alexa Dunlap (20) puts in a layup over a Fort Recovery defender. The Cougars eked out a 1-point upset of the Lady Indians in the non-conference game. (Jan Dunlap/Van Wert independent)

The Van Wert Lady Cougars knocked off Fort Recovery, one of the Midwest Athletic Conference’s top girls’ basketball teams, 46-45 in a non-conference melee on Saturday in the Cougar’s Den. The Cougars are now 5-6 on the year, while the Lady Indians fall to 9-2 overall.

The two teams played even in the first quarter and ended the period in a 14-14 tie. Van Wert outscored the Lady Indians 12-10 in the second quarter to lead by a basket, 26-24, at the half. The Cougar girls extended the lead to four points, 39-35, at the three-quarter mark, setting up a wild final stanza that Van Wert won despite missing some crucial free throws in the final seconds.

The Cougars were 20 of 41 from field goal range (48.8 percent), but made only 30.8 percent of their free throws (4 of 13). Fort Recovery made 18 of 49 field goal attempts (36/7 percent), and were 8 of 11 (72.7 percent) from the charity stripe.

The Lady Indians outrebounded Van Wert 30-20, and had 18 turnovers to 20 for the Lady Cougs.

The Fort Recovery junior varsity team was victorious, 35-27. Riley Jones was the game’s top scorer with 9 points.

POSTED: 01/07/13 at 2:44 am. FILED UNDER: Sports