PLYMOUTH (IN) - Saturday afternoon, the Marian University Ancilla Women's Basketball team faced an important task as they hosted the Grand Rapids Raiders. Both teams, along with the Southwestern Michigan Roadrunners, are battling it out to finish in 2nd Place in the MCCAA's Western Division, as both the 2nd and 3rd Place finishers will host an opening round game to get to the NJCAA Region 12 Tournament, however, 4th Place would likely have to go on the road to one of the other two finishers.
The Chargers jumped out to an early 17-9 lead by the end of the first quarter, then carried that lead through much of the second quarter as well and had the Raiders on the ropes. But a late run allowed Grand Rapids in the game. GRCC topped it off as they threw in a half-court shot at the buzzer to make it just a 23-22 halftime lead for Marian Ancilla. The third quarter saw a lot of back & forth, and both teams were wearing each other out, with no one able to really pull ahead by much; MUAC led 36-34. Then, in the final period, the Chargers took charge, as they held Grand Rapids scoreless for more than 7 minutes, ultimately allowing just a single basket and pulling out the hard-fought victory, 49-36.
Sophomore guard Ciara Bonner was a big presence offensively, as she scored 17 points on 6-9 shooting, she was a blistering 5-7 from 3-point range, plus she collected 4 rebounds and handed out 4 assists. Equally important was the play of Sophomore forward Ga'Naysia White, who came off the bench to contribute 4 points and 5 rebounds, but it was her defensive prowess late when she stole the ball 3 times in 5 possessions that helped the Chargers separate from the Raiders. Sophomore forward Santana Eubanks collected yet another double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Sophomore guard Aaliyah Keil pulled in 11 rebounds, 5 of them coming at the offensive end of the floor.
With a little over a week to go in the regular season, the Chargers have just three games remaining. On Thursday (2/19), they host Community Christian College at the LifePlex in Plymouth. That is a Women's game only, scheduled to begin at 5:30p. Saturday (2/21) they are back at home as they take on rival Lake Michigan College at 1:00p, then next Tuesday (2/24) they travel to Kellogg Community College for a 5:30p MCCAA matchup. Please come out and support the ladies, if you are able!!
