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                              Highlanders Take Down Celtics

Pittsburgh, Pa.- The Highlander women’s basketball team beat the Carlow University Celtics Saturday, 66-56. The victory extends Houghton’s win-streak to three games in American Mideast Conference (AMC) divisional play.

Poor shooting for both teams coupled with turnovers made the start of the game look extremely poor, with a combined point total of 21 points (9-12) through the first 10 minutes of play. Fatigue was an obvious sign for Houghton playing their second game in as many days.

Houghton took an 11-point first half lead (33-22) by getting to the free throw line and picking up several offensive rebounds for put-backs. Carlow’s Jacqueline Muir carried the home team through the first half, leading all scores with 11 of the Celtics 22 points.

In the second half the Highlanders showed signs of better offensive execution, but Muir scored six quick points, bringing the lead to 36-30 at the 16-minute mark.

Midway through the second half the Highlanders took control of the game when Ashley Dupler (Jamestown, N.Y./ Jamestown), who had a quiet first half, scored twice and grabbed some valuable offensive rebounds. The Highlanders looked comfortable sitting on a 15-point lead.

The Celtics cut the lead to ten (57-47), off the 3-point shooting of Kaitlin Marecie with seven minutes left in the game, but Carlow could not close the gap any further.

The Highlanders secured the victory, pulling down rebounds and hitting critical free throws down the stretch to close out the game 66-56

“We played well enough to pull the win out today,” said Highlander Head Coach Skip Lord. “Our defense played an important role for these two games this weekend. Our rebounding proved to be the deciding factor.”

Leading scorers for the Highlanders were Dupler with 18 points (and 13 rebounds) and Leah French, who had 11 points. The Celtics were lead by Jacqueline Muir with a game-high 28 points and 10 rebounds.

The Highlanders are now halfway through their conference schedule, “Six out of our seven games have been on the road in the conference," said Lord, "so it has put us in good position for the remainder of the season being at home.”

The Highlanders play next at home against AMC rival Roberts Wesleyan College at 6:00 pm on February 5. The Highlanders improve to 10-9 overall and 3-4 in AMC North Division play.