MOUNT UNION — Arctic air could not stop the basketball season for long as the Lady Tide of Curwensville had to load up the buses in frigid weather to make the road trip to Mount Union Friday night to face off with the Lady Trojans. Earlier this season, the two teams combined for over 60 turnovers, but Curwensville came away with the early-season victory.
The return contest began just like the weather outside, cold and difficult. Neither team established themselves until the third quarter, when Mount Union opened up a lead that would not be overcome. Curwensville got handed their eighth loss on the season, falling 34-27.
Neither squad came out strong in the opening stanza, as the two would combine for a mere 10 points. The game got an early tip-off due to Mount Union having low numbers, with no junior varsity contest on the docket. But, the Lady Trojans managed to get going in the second quarter, outscoring the Lady Tide by a single point, but still went into the locker room faced with a 12-11 deficit.
Curwensville’s steady first half came to an abrupt halt as Mount Union came out firing hard, and would not be denied.
The 13 points scored from Mount Union in the third quarter matched the entire team output in the first meeting between the two. At the same time, the Lady Tide were not able to maintain any true momentum, only capturing a couple buckets in the quarter, falling behind 24-16 entering the final frame.
That isn’t to say Curwensville didn’t make the final quarter interesting. Alyssa Bakaysa scored the majority of her game-high 16 points in the final quarter to draw the score closer, but it was too late to make a comeback as Curwensville came up short. The struggles shooting also fell in the form of free throws, as the Tide only managed to go 3-for-7 at the line.
Mount Union was paced by Sophie Smith with 11 points, plus Patyn Crisswell who added in another 10.
Curwensville (3-8) continues a six-game road trip on Monday when they face off with the Lady Damsels of Moshannon Valley.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Curwensville 6 6 4 11 – 27
Mount Union 4 7 13 10 – 34
Curwensville – 27
Alyssa Bakaysa 8 0-0 16, Joslynne Freyer 2 1-2 5, Austyn Guiher 0 0-3 0, Kyra Henry 0 0-0 0, Skylar Pentz 2 0-0 4, Jaiden Weber 0 0-0 0, Rachelle Anderson 0 0-0 0, Savannah Carfley 0 2-2 2, Karleigh Freyer 0 0-0 0, Addison Butler 0 0-0 0, Janelle Passmore 0 0-0 0, Brooklyn Price 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 12 3-7 27
Mount Union – 34
Minerva Sheeder 3 0-0 7, Sophie Smith 5 0-0 11, Kendra Gardener 1 0-0 2, Chelsea Williams 1 2-4 4, Patyn Crisswell 5 0-0 10, Maddie Dimoff 0 0-0 0, Cailyn Skopic 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 15 2-4 34.