Eoin Colquhoun, Pronghorn Athletics
Lethbridge – The Lethbridge Pronghorns remained perfect on the 2017-18 season, moving to 5-0 with a 72-56 win over the Mount Royal Cougars in the front half of a home-and-home series.
The loss drops the Cougars to 0-5 on the season.
Senior guard Zoe Dahl led the way for the Pronghorns with a game high 17 points, while freshmen Amy Mazutinec and Jessica Zarowny chipped in with 10 points apiece. Six-foot-five senior Becky Nash was the lone Cougar to reach double digits with 11 points and Sydney Tabin contributed seven points coming off the bench.
"We are extremely pleased to get a victory over a well-coached Mount Royal team," said Pronghorn head coach Dave Adams. "The Cougars did an outstanding job of using their size advantage to score inside."
"We got great production from the whole roster tonight and I loved our energy in the fourth quarter."
After falling behind early, the Pronghorns went on a 17-4 run near the midpoint of the opening quarter to take the lead, one they would not surrender.
Mazutinec was a perfect four-for-four in the quarter for nine of her game's 10 points to lead the home side. Becky Nash led the Cougars with four points in the first 10 minutes.
Scoring stalled in the early going of the second quarter, as both teams struggled to maintain any offensive rhythm but the Pronghorns were able to maintain their 11 point lead (33-22) at halftime, after a 12-12 second quarter.
Aided by a hot shooting opening quarter, the Pronghorns hit on 48.1% of their first half shot attempts, including four buckets from long range, while Mount Royal was only a hair below the Pronghorns at 47.8% but attempted four fewer shots and only hit one three-pointer in the half.
Out of the break, the Cougars clawed their way back within striking distance with a strong push, outscoring Lethbridge 17-10 at the midway point of the third and got the game within five points with 10 minutes to play.
The biggest difference in the third was a drop off in the Pronghorns shooting efficiency. In the quarter, the Pronghorns only hit on seven of 22 shot attempts and didn't make anything from behind the arc after four long range balls in the opening half.
Following a lackluster third quarter, the Pronghorns responded with a much better fourth quarter, pushing their lead back to double digits early in the fourth and upped their defensive pressure, holding Mount Royal to only eight points in the final quarter.
On the night, the Pronghorns finished 27 of 66 from the field for 40.9%, including 26.1% from behind the arc. The Pronghorns also won the battle on the glass against a much bigger Mount Royal team, 38 to 34, including 11 offensive rebounds. The Cougars finished the night shooting 39.3% with only two made three pointers and attempted 10 fewer shots than their opponents.
The back half of the home-and-home series will go Saturday night in Calgary at Kenyon Court, tip-off is slated for 6:00pm. The game will also be streamed live at www.canadawest.tv.