Lady Cougars get 18th win of the season

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

Van Wert's Cheyenne Handy (23) drives around a Wapakoneta defender during Thursday's WBL contest in the Cougar's Den won by Van Wert. (Jan Dunlap/Van Wert independent) — Van Wert’s Cheyenne Handy (23) drives around a Wapakoneta defender during Thursday’s WBL contest in the Cougar’s Den won by Van Wert. (Jan Dunlap/Van Wert independent)

The Van Wert Lady Cougars won their 18th game of the season with a 48-40 victory over Wapakoneta on Thursday at home.

Erin Morrow and Cheyenne Handy led the Cougars with 15 points apiece, while Alexa Dunlap added 11 points for Van Wert. Sara Warner led the Lady Redskins with a game-high 18 points.

The Cougars took the early lead with an 18-11 first quarter offensive performance and were up by 11 points, 29-18, at the half. Wapakoneta rallied in the second half, outscoring Van Wert 22-19, but the Cougars held their Western Buckeye League rivals off down the stretch to get the victory.

Free throw shooting was a factor in the game, with Van Wert making 16 of 19 at the line (84.2 percent), including a 7-for-7 performance by Morrow.

With the win, Van Wert is now 18-4 overall on the season, and 7-2 in the WBL. The Lady Redskins fall to 12-10 overall and 5-3 in league play.

The Cougar junior varsity team fell to Wapakoneta, 49-38, in the first game of the night. Van Wert’s JVs are now 8-13 on the season and 3-6 in the WBL.

POSTED: 02/14/14 at 7:11 am. FILED UNDER: Sports