Rich Ragan Family Court, UPJ – Coming off a 3-game losing streak, the UPJ Lady Mountain Cats got back in the win column Saturday afternoon by defeating the Mercyhurst University Lakers, 67-46.
The Mountain Cats jumped out to an early 19-4 lead over the Lakers in the first quarter. The consistent offense for Mountain Cats was inspired in part by their stifling defense, as UPJ forced 8 first quarter turnovers.
Mercyhurst woke up a bit early in quarter two, scoring 15 points to UPJ’s 7 points. The Mountain Cats then tightened up and got the offense going again.
Following halftime, UPJ continued to keep their offense humming as Mercyhurst sputtered. Any little flurry of pushback by the Lakers was almost immediately shut down by UPJ. The early deficit for the Lakers was just too much to overcome, as the Mountain Cats cruised to victory by the final score of 67-46.
Senior guards Olivia Fasick and Hayden Taylor led the way offensively for the Mountain Cats. Fasick shot the ball well early and often, as she racked up 12 of UPJ’s 34 first half points. She finished her afternoon with 18 points, 3 assists, and 3 steals. Taylor also drained three 3-pointers during clutch moments. She carries a final stat line of 15 points, 4 assists, and 1 steal.
Fellow Mountain Cats, Lexi Margolis and Cassidy Crawford, contributed significantly to the win as well. Margolis performed well off the bench posting 11 points and snatching 7 rebounds; Crawford recorded 7 rebounds while recording 9 points.
As for Mercyhurst, senior guard Julia Buchman and junior guard Allyson Ross each scored 14 points for the Lakers.
Defense was the big factor of the day for UPJ, as they forced 22 total turnovers from Mercyhurst. UPJ capitalized on these turnovers by scoring 25 turnover points. Mercyhurst’s top two season scorers, Bailey Kuhns and Danielle Crim, were held to a combined 6 points.
UPJ women’s basketball head coach Mike Drahos commented on his team’s effort and focus to limit their two biggest threats: “You got to focus on those two kids. They’re top-10 players in the league, first team all-conference type players, and I think, you know, two of the better players you are going to see at this division 2 level. You definitely got to have a little focus on what they’re doing for sure. I hand it to our kids. They did a great job executing the game plan.”
Drahos also voiced his pleasure with the performances of Hayden Taylor and Olivia Fasick.
“I was just unbelievably proud [of] the way they stepped up today. They played so hard and not just on offense… Hayden and Liv, especially the two of them, they stepped up and made plays when we needed it. Those are two you want on your side, their warriors for sure so we would like to have them for a couple years if we could.” said Drahos.
Senior forward Kylah Franklin, who played a huge role for the Mountain Cats on defense, had similar feeling as her head coach. She mentioned that the team playing well defensively and being well prepared led to victory.
Franklin commented, “We wanted this win. We knew our ball pressure had to be there. We scouted, and we knew what everybody was going to do whether they were going to drive the basket or not. We knew who the shooters were, so we were really focused this game, for sure.”.
Franklin, like coach Drahos, also shared praise for her teammate Olivia Fasick’s performance: “She’s just a really good leader. She’s our team captain. She’s the all-around shooter…. We’re definitely very proud of her. She definitely showed up today and in the past few games.”
With this win, the lady Mountain Cats improves their record to 13-8 (8-7 in the PSAC West Division). Mercyhurst falls to 14-7 (10-5 in the PSAC West). The UPJ lady Mountain Cats will be in action again on Wednesday, February 7 on the road against Clarion at 5:30 pm. They will then return home to face Edinboro on Saturday, February 10 at 1 pm.