Courtesy of Midland Athletics
YANKTON, S.D. – Midland University returned to action Wednesday night with a midweek matchup at Mount Marty University. The Warriors trailed by one possession at halftime before the Lancers pulled away in the second half for a 75-58 win.
Mount Marty scored the opening basket and built a 10-2 lead early. An 8-0 run pulled Midland even on a layup by Jenna Weber with just under two minutes remaining in the quarter. Back-to-back baskets gave the Lancers a 14-10 advantage at the first break.
The run carried into the second quarter as Mount Marty added six more points to push the lead to double digits. After the teams traded 3-pointers, Ellie Bovaird and Weber connected on consecutive shots from beyond the arc to trim the deficit to 26-21 at the midway point. The margin remained five until the final seconds of the half, when Allie Hakimzadeh drained a 3-pointer to make it 31-29 in favor of the home team at the break.
Coming out of intermission, the Lancers extended their lead by forcing difficult shots from the Midland offense. The deficit grew to 12 before 3-pointers from Hakimzadeh and Weber cut it to six. By the end of the third quarter, however, Mount Marty had stretched its advantage back to 10, 55-45.
The Warriors continued to battle in the fourth, but shots would not fall. Midland connected on just 4 of 14 attempts in the final quarter as the Lancers outscored the visitors 20-13 over the final 10 minutes.
Three Warriors scored in double figures, led by Weber with a team-high 20 points. Addy Offutt added 12, and Bovaird finished with 10. Midland shot 32.7% from the field (18 of 55), including nine 3-pointers. Mount Marty shot 47.6% (30 of 63), outscored the Warriors 44-16 in the paint, and held a 45-30 rebounding advantage.
Midland (3-22, 2-17 GPAC) faces a tough road test Saturday at No. 1 Dordt (24-1, 17-1 GPAC). Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. in Sioux Center, Iowa.
