Women’s Bball gets back in the Win Column over Norbert

Fighting Scots women’s hoops bounced back from a two-game losing streak, as they bested rival St. Norbert 68-64 in a tight contest that took overtime to decide the winner.

Carley Turnbull sunk a three-pointer on the first shot of the game for Monmouth to get the offense rolling. Fellow Scot and lone senior Demi Johnson followed up with a three-ball of her own for a 6-2 lead. Monmouth extended that margin to as many as seven off a layup by Kaitlyn Osmulski before a late rally by the Green Knights. St. Norbert closed out the final four-minutes of the quarter on an 8-0 run. Six of those points came from Liz Edinger, as she nailed back to back threes in the final minute of the frame for a 14-13 lead after one.

In the second quarter, the Scots found their rhythm once again, as Kaitlyn Osmulski spurred the offense on scoring the period’s first four points. After a Carly Turnbull transition score, and a pair of Tarae Warner jumpers, Monmouth was back in control with a 23-16 lead. From that point on, the Scots and Green Knights exchanged baskets as Monmouth went to the halftime break up 31-23.

With a double-figure margin in the second-half, the Scots began to let the lead slip away. St. Norbert outscored Monmouth 8-1 down the final three-minutes of the quarter, as what was once a comfortable lead was trimmed to four by the end of the third-quarter.

The fourth-quarter was an intense ten-minutes of play, as each side tried to land the knockout blow. St. Norbert seized the lead midway through the fourth off a three by Olivia Decleene. Carly Turnbull responded for the Scots connecting on a jumper to pull back in front. The Green Knights pushed Monmouth to the brink as they scored six unanswered points to go up 55-50 with under two-minutes remaining.

A three-point play by Kaitlyn Osmulski followed by a Carley Turnbull layup with seven-seconds remaining pulled the Scots even at 55. Both St. Norbert and Monmouth exchanged possessions in the final seven-seconds but neither could break the tie as play went to overtime.

Overtime was just as close, as the Scots built a three-point lead with 21-seconds remaining. But the Green Knights were not going to back down as Olivia Decleene pulled up from deep to tie the game at 64 with just nine-seconds remaining. The Scots rose to the occasion though, as Shayne Smith scored the go-ahead basket on a layup with three-seconds remaining. Smith followed up the basket by stealing the inbound pass and laying in another score as time expired in a dramatic finish to regular season play.

With the win, Monmouth sealed the number two seed in the Midwest conference tournament. They open tournament play Fri. at Ripon where they match up with three seed Lake Forest College, tip off set for 7 PM.

Tate Heiple
Sports Editor