Cougars Defense Leashes Bulldogs

When the Cougars took the court Thursday night against Dayton, their focus was on stopping the Bulldog's offense, which is on track to have three players score their 1,000th point this season.  It didn't take long for the Cougars to set the pace with a smothering defense that recorded six steals in the first quarter alone.

Sophomore Mairead McKeary drew a line in the sand for the Cougars, swiping the ball on the Bulldogs first possession; and then twice more in the opening minutes as the Cougars raced out to a 7-0 lead early in the first period.  The Cougars when on to close out the first quarter with a 15-8 lead over the Bulldogs behind 7 points from Senior Morgan Miller and another 6 from Junior Kaitlin McGovern.

McGovern kept the tempo up in the second quarter, hauling in an early rebound and feeding it to Junior Jess McCoy for a basket, then grabbing a steal and taking it the length of the court for two of her own.  The next trip down, McCoy swiped a ball from the Bulldogs and kicked it up to Junior Jenna Goeller who dished it to McKeary for two.  The Cougars were up 21-10 two and a half minutes into the second quarter as Dayton called a timeout to talk things over.

After a freebie by McKeary, the Bulldogs looked to get back in the game hitting a trey from the corner but Cranford struck right back with McGovern hitting for two off a pass from McCoy, who then found Goeller on the next trip up the court for three from the arc, and Cranford doubled up Dayton 26-13.  Morgan Miller snatched a pass from the Bulldogs and took it the length of the court for two of her own.  The Cougars took a 32-16 lead into the locker room at the half behind 11 points each from Morgan Miller and Kaitlin McGovern.

Dayton came out in the second half more aggressive on both sides of the ball, limiting Cranford's looks at the basket.  The Bulldogs put up six points in the early minutes, but were answered by Jenna Goeller who got Cranford back on the board with a pair of aggressive drives to the basket that led to three points from the charity stripe.  Mairead McKeary added two of her own from the bonus line and the only field goal of the quarter for the Cougars was a fast break from Miller to McCoy for two.  Despite their offensive difficulties, the Cranford defense held strong and the Cougars took a 39-26 lead out of the third quarter.

The Bulldogs weren't done yet, though.  Dayton jumped out to an 8-2 run in the first two and a half minutes of the fourth quarter to close the gap to 41-34.  Cranford's only points during this time were a pair of free throws by Goeller who was proving to be a challenge for the Bulldogs defense in the lane.

With two minutes remaining Dayton called a timeout as Cranford held on to a 46-36 lead after a layup by McKeary and another strong drive by Goeller gave her two and the bonus.  Goeller followed up her offensive production by stealing the inbounds pass after the timeout, which put Dayton in the position of having to foul to get the ball back, sending Miller to the line where she made both.

McCoy stole the ball on the next Bulldog possession and the same strategy again sent Miller to the line for another pair of freebies.  After that it was all ball-control by the Cougars.  Miller and Goeller both got back to the charity stripe for another pair each before Cranford ended the game with a 54-36 victory.