Cincinnati, Ohio – In a thrilling finish that came down to the final second, the Mount St. Joseph University Lions upended the Transylvania women's basketball team 58-55 on Saturday afternoon at the Harrington Center.
Using a strong third quarter output, the Lions built a nine-point cushion entering the fourth quarter they would rely on to hold off the charging Pioneers, who came back to take a one-point lead with four minutes left in regulation.
Mount St. Joseph collected its first win of the season to improve to 1-1 while the Pioneers had their six-game win streak against Division III opponents halted to drop to 6-4 overall and 3-1 against Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference opponents.
Undergoing a cold shooting first half, the Pioneers and Lions battled to a 26-26 halftime tie. The Pioneers shot 3 for 16 from the field in the second quarter but held Mount St. Joseph to 4 for 18 shooting in the second period to forge the tie.
In the third quarter, the Lions heated up, shooting 8 for 18 from the field and connected on four 3-point attempts to outscore the Pioneers 24-15 and take a 50-41 lead into the final quarter.
Dasia Thornton and Madison Kellione led the fourth-quarter charge for the Pioneers, pushing the Pioneers on a 9-0 run to go ahead by a point. Grace Shope pumped in a layup to make it a one-point deficit for Transy and scored on the following possession to give the Pioneers the 52-51 lead at the 4:02 mark.
Cold shooting resumed for the Pioneers in the final four minutes while the Lions nailed 6 of 6 free throws down the stretch to sway the game in their favor. Trailing 56-53 with a minute to go, Elizabeth Hardiman was fouled and hit two free throws to bring the Pioneers back within one point.
The Pioneers forced a defensive stop against Mount St. Joseph on the next possession, but Shope was tied up for a jump ball and the Lions retained the ball. Sharp defense by the Pioneers returned the ball to the visitors with under 15 seconds remaining, but Hardiman's floater on a fast break went long off the back iron, and the Lions rebounded the ball and were fouled.
Following two free throws by Mount St. Joseph to go ahead 58-55, the Pioneers diagrammed one last play with three seconds remaining, but an extra pass to Shope on the right corner arrived as the clock expired, resulting in the Lions victory.
Thornton led the Pioneers with a double-double of 10 rebounds to go with 12 points while Kellione led Transylvania in scoring with 13. Hardiman was the other Pioneer double-digit scorer with 11 points and added nine rebounds and two blocks.
Transylvania returns to play next Friday, January 29 against Earlham College at 7:00 p.m. The Pioneers and Quakers will square off in Richmond, Indiana for a Week 3 HCAC series.
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