At Saginaw Valley State University, Portland St. Pat's handed Ovid-Elsie their first loss of the season, 51-45.  PSP improves to 7-2 while OE dips to 7-1.

After an 11-9 first quarter in favor of the Shamrocks and another 15-14 advantage in the second, PSP would put together a dominant 15-5 third-quarter run to lead 41-28.  However, the Lady Marauders would claw their way back into the game with some tenacious defense and ended up outscoring PSP 17-10 in the final stanza.

"We knew this was going to be a dog fight.  They are a very good team with a lot of quickness and athleticism," said Head Coach Ryan Cunningham.  "We didn't have our best stuff tonight but I am proud of the way our girls fought to the end."

Ovid-Elsie led by 5 points early in the contest but a 7-0 run by the Shamrocks put PSP back on top in a game that saw five ties and 10 lead changes.  But it was the third-quarter surge that kept the Marauders at bay.

"We went through some slumps on offense and we uncharacteristically turned the ball over tonight.  We talked a lot the past few days about how they want to speed us up and make us uncomfortable, and they did just that," added Cunningham.

Sophomore Lilian Bates helped pace the Lady Marauders with 9 points including 2 triples to go along with Evalyn Cole's 9 points.  Bates and Cole also added 4 rebounds each with Cole adding 5 assists and 3 steals.

Braeden Tokar added 8 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals while Hailee Campbell (8 rebounds) and Ava Bates (6 rebounds, 4 assists) each scored 6 points.  Francesca Giacobbe added 3 points and Tava Kvalevog and Ellyana Carman 2 points each.  

"Bottom line here is that we turned the ball over too many times and gave up too many offensive rebounds," Cunningham said.  "In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't change anything in terms of the goals that we have.  We scheduled games like this for a reason and we need to learn from our mistakes and get better.  This loss will pay dividends down the road."

Ovid-Elsie out-shot Portland St. Pat's 35% to 33% from the field and at the free throw line, 66.7% to 50% respectively.  However, the Shamrocks attempted ten more free throws than the Lady Marauders.  Both teams grabbed 30 rebounds and PSP had one more assist in the game (16-15) but it was the steals and turnovers that stood out as PSP collected 10 steals on 20 OE turnovers while the Lady Marauders collected 7 steals on just 10 Shamrock turnovers.

Ovid-Elsie will remain idle until Lakeville comes to town on Friday night for a 5:30 p.m. MMAC tilt.  The Lady Marauders will then hit the road on Saturday to take on Petoskey at Cadillac High School at 4:00 p.m.