Omaha
Doane
Mavs Fend Off Pesky Tigers for Fifth Straight Win
Dec 31, 2013 | Women's Basketball
OMAHA, Neb. - The UNO women's basketball team closed out 2013 with an 80-72 win over Doane on Tuesday afternoon at the Sapp Fieldhouse. It was the fifth straight win for the Mavericks, the most since a six-game win streak near the end of the 2008-09 season.
The Mavericks improved to 8-5 on the season and 6-0 at home on Head Coach Brittany Lange's 27th birthday. Doane remained 4-9 overall as it counted the game as an exhibition.
Ericka House had a team-high 21 points for the Mavs, while Madi Robson had a career-high 15. Lanese Bough scored a career-high 14 points to go with a career-best-tying six assists and three steals. Sami Pawlak and Felicia Anderson each had 12 points, and they combined for 18 points in the second half to spark the Mavs.
UNO got off to a slow start in the game, missing its first six shots and turning the ball over twice in the first 3:43. Doane hit two 3-pointers for a quick 6-0 lead. But the Mavs answered with a 10-0 run to stake a 10-6 lead, sparked by a bucket and two assists by Bough.
The Mavs gained a 16-13 lead on a 3-pointer by House with 10:45 left, but Doane went on a 9-0 run over the next 4:00 to go up 22-16. The Tigers took their biggest lead of the game - eight points - when they led 29-21 with 3:21 left after a trey by Cali Bellar. But the Mavs gained some momentum just before halftime, scoring the final four points of the half on baskets by House and Robson in the final minute to get within two, 33-31, at the break.
Playing from behind at halftime for the first time at home this season, the Mavs clawed back to tie it at 42-42 on a jumper by House with 15:50 left. After Doane's Shelbi Bittinger hit a 3-pointer, Felicia Anderson hit one to even things back up at 45-45 with 15:21 to go.
The teams went back and forth and with the game tied 59-59, Anderson hit a 3-pointer and converted a basket in transition for a 64-59 lead. House chipped in a bucket and two free throws, and Anderson added another basket for a 70-59 Maverick lead with 5:59 left. But the Tigers responded with an 8-0 run keyed by two 3-pointers by Bittinger to cut it to 70-67 with 4:21 remaining.
With UNO ahead 72-71 with less than three minutes to play, Shaw took a feed from Kelly and scored an easy two. Robson then scored a layup off a fastbreak pass from Anderson to give UNO a 76-71 lead with 1:30 left. House and Bough each hit a pair of free throws down the stretch to clinch the win.
UNO finished the game with a school-record-tying 10 blocked shots. Taijhe Kelly had six blocked shots to go with 12 rebounds and four points. The Mavs dominated the paint, 50-18, but Doane shot the lights out from behind the arc, hitting 11-of-21 (52.4 percent), to put a scare into the Mavericks. Bittinger had a game-high 25 points and hit 6-of-7 from 3-point range. The teams changed leads nine times in the game and they were tied on 10 occasions.
The Mavericks have scored 80 or more points in four of their six home games this season after scoring 80 or more points just twice all of last season.
UNO returns to action on Sunday against Milwaukee at the Sapp Fieldhouse at 2 p.m. It marks the final non-conference game of the season for Omaha.
