Viterbo Falls to Mount Mercy on the Road

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The Viterbo University Women's Basketball team traveled to Iowa to take on the Mount Mercy Mustangs on Saturday. The V-Hawks lost a hard-fought battle to the Mustangs with a final score of 55-59. Viterbo falls to 1-5 on the season while Mount Mercy improves to 3-1. 

The Mustangs started out strong scoring the first 7 points of the game. A layup by Kaitlyn Kennedy put Viterbo on the board at the 5:48 mark. The V-Hawks quickly caught up to the Mustangs and a jumper by Emily Bohn put the V-Hawks up 9-7. The teams traded points and a jump shot by V-Hawk Tyreesha Blaylock put Viterbo up 11-10 to end quarter one. The teams traded points to start the second quarter and a three-pointer by Munstang Marissa Brantley tied the game 13-13. Mount Mercy stretched their lead 19-15 forcing a Viterbo timeout. Back on the floor Bohn landed two free throws to tie the score 19-19 with 4:00 left in the half. A jump shot by the Mustangs put them up to end the first half 21-23. 

Mount Mercy stretched their lead in quarter three with a layup by Madison Dreckman, 21-28. Two three pointers by Brantley at the 3:27 mark helped the Mustangs maintain their lead 27-36. A three point shot by Sophie Leinfelder ended quarter three with Mount Mercy up 32-41. Kennedy put the first point on the board with a free throw starting quarter four. A three and layup by Dreckman helped the Mustangs stretch their lead 39-51 with 6:00 left in the half. Kennedy landed a three to help the V-Hawks advance 48-53 at the 3:24 mark forcing a timeout by Mount Mercy. Two free throws by Natalia Leguizamon put the V-Hawks within three points of the Mustangs, 50-53. A steal and layup by Emma Wagner brought the score to 53-55 with 1:13 left in the game. Viterbo failed to get ahead of the Mustangs and a free throw by Dreckman ended the game 55-59. 

Viterbo out shot Mount Mercy from the field 32.3% to 28.6%. The V-Hawks ended the game with a free throw percentage of 70.6% compared to the Mustangs 66.7%.

Leguizamon led the V-Hawks with 15 points, 4 steals, and 5 blocks. Nicole Johnson recorded 7 rebounds followed by Emma Wagner and Ellie Hoesley with 6. 

Dreckman led the Mustangs with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Annika Headington added 11 points and 10 rebounds. Deja Antoine and Cristian Patron each contributed 3 steals. 

The V-Hawks will stay on the road to take on Winona State after the holiday on Monday, November 28.