Mount Union College (3-10, 0-6 OAC) suffered a 71-69 loss to visiting Heidelberg College (8-4, 3-3 OAC) on Saturday, January 8, in the Timken Physical Education Building in Alliance, Ohio.
Heidelberg led most of the first half, taking its biggest at 12 with the score 36-24 with 0:18 seconds remaining on the clock. The Berg led 38-27 at the break. In the second half, Heidelberg kicked the lead up to 17 at 46-29 with 16:52 remaining in the contest.
The Raiders came all the back in the second stanza, taking a 61-59 lead when forward Ashley Bourdeau made a layup at the 5:02 mark. Mount Union ouscored Heidelberg 32-13 during that stretch. The Berg regained the lead quickly. However, Mount Union fought back and took its last lead when guard Lauren Friedrich made a layup making it 63-62 at the 3:52 mark. A layup by Heidelberg guard Sharonda Willis made it 64-63 with 3:14 left on the clock.
The teams traded numerous free throws down the stretch. The Berg's biggest lead in the final three minutes was four (70-66) with 0:15 seconds remaining. Friedrich cut it to one (70-69) on a three-pointer with 0:06 seconds left. After a Raider foul, Heidelberg guard Amanda Campbell split a pair of free throws with 0:04 seconds on the clock. Mount Union guard Tana Keller got off a desperation shot from well beyond the three-point arc at the buzzer, but it fell short.
Mount Union was led by Bourdeau's 18 points, guard Kyla Hogan's 12 points and six steals, Friedrich's 11 and forward Jen Moreck's 10. Heidelberg's Campbell had a team-high 15 points and Willis chipped in with 10 points and a game-best 13 rebounds.
The Berg shot .426 from the field compared to .473 for Mount Union. Heidelberg had a 34-28 rebounding edge. The visitors had 23 turnovers to Mount Union's 17. The visitors went 18-of-22 from the charity stripe (.818) while Mount Union was 13-of-21 (.619).
The Lady Raiders next travel to Marietta for a 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 12 tipoff.