Dearborn, MI - The women's basketball team lost their conference opener on Monday night falling to the Marygrove College Mustangs 62-59. Michigan-Dearbon (0-4, 0-1) handled the ball well offensively committing just 14 turnovers, but Marygrove (3-3, 1-0) held the Wolverines to just 32% shooting for the game. The game was back and forth as there were 22 lead changes and 8 ties and the largest lead for each team was 5 points.
The first quarter featured Michigan-Dearborn crashing the boards and grabbing six offensive rebounds. Junior Takesha Clark's basket with 14 seconds left in the quarter gave the Wolverines a 15-13 lead. Michigan-Dearborn would open the lead up to five points early in the second quarter on a Natalie Spala three-pointer, but the Mustangs would score the game's next seven points to take a two point lead. The two teams continued to trade baskets and with Marygrove up two late in the second quarter, sophomore Megan Swick scored after freshman Jenna Rogers grabbed an offensive rebound tying the game at 33 going into halftime.
The third quarter saw both teams open five point leads at various times, but neither team could stretch the lead any further. A late three-pointer by Marygrove's Shavarra Patton had the game tied at 48 going into the fourth quarter. After trailing by four points just minutes into the fourth quarter, Michigan-Dearborn took a three point lead after back-to-back baskets by freshman Emily Heinrich and then a go ahead basket by sophomore Marisa Sauve. After exchanging the lead a few more times, freshman Kendall Rose put the Wolverines ahead by one point with 48 seconds left. However, just 15 seconds later, Patton would give Marygrove a one point lead. Sauve would miss a shot with eight seconds remaining and Marygrove would sink two free throws sealing the 62-59 victory.
Swick led Michigan-Dearborn with 16 points while Sauve grabbed 12 rebounds and Rose added 8 points and 9 rebounds. The women's basketball team will host the Davenport University Panthers on Wednesday night at 5:30pm.
