Lady Cougars dominate Defiance

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

The Van Wert Lady Cougars got an easy win Thursday over a struggling Defiance team, downing the Lady Bulldogs 51-25 in a Western Buckeye League contest in the Cougar’s Den.

With the victory, the Cougars even their overall record to 9-9 and are 2-5 in league play. Defiance is now 1-15 overall and 0-7 in the WBL.

Van Wert had a balanced scoring attack, with three players in double figures, led by Emilie Moonshower and Alexis Dowdy, who each had 11 points on the night. Erin Morrow added 10 points for the Cougars. Emily Spencer of Defiance led all scorers with 15 points, but was the only Bulldog in double figures.

Van Wert took a seven-point lead, 16-9, at the end of the first quarter and was up by 15 points at the half, thanks for a 10-2 run in the second quarter. The Cougars’ lead was 23, 40-17, after Van Wert more than doubled the Lady Bulldogs’ offensive output in the third period with a 14-6 run. It was closest in the final stanza, but the Cougars still outscored Defiance 11-8.

Van Wert had good offensive stats, hitting 19 of 44 from the field for 43.2 percent. The Bulldogs had the same number of attempts, but hit only 10 of those (22.8 percent). The Lady Cougs were 9 of 16 at the free-throw line (56.3 percent), while Defiance hit only 2 of 12 attempts (16.2 percent) from the charity stripe.

The Cougars out rebounded Defiance, 30-22, and had five fewer turnovers, 11-16, in the game.

Van Wert will next host Lancaster in a non-conference game on Saturday.

The Cougar junior varsity team was edged by Defiance, 35-30. Chelsea Laycock led the Bulldog JVs with 13 points, while Maddie Clawson added 9 for Defiance (5-11). Van Wert was led by Emily Bair, who scored 13, points, while Phoebe Eutsler added 8 for the Cougar JVs, now 3-15 on the year.