GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Davenport women's basketball team did not have their "A" game on Wednesday in a 71-61 win over visiting Siena Heights but made enough plays in the second half to secure their seventh win of the season (7-1) and improve to 4-0 in the WHAC.
Siena Heights led 14-13 after the first quarter as the Panthers were out of sync. DU committed six turnovers and shot just 5-of-19 from the floor. They played good defense to keep them close as SHU shot 6-of-18 in the opening 10 minutes.
The Panthers took care of the ball in the second quarter but still was cold from the floor shooting 7-of-21. The Saints shot just 26.7 percent in the quarter but did make 5-of-6 at the foul line. The lead changed hands once and there were two ties in the first half.
Lauren Brower got a screen behind the arc and knocked down a three to start the third quarter and the team would not trail for the rest of the game. Brower's three started a 14-4 run for Davenport in the first four minutes of the quarter capped off by a
Mallory Sewell layup at the 5:53 mark.
Siena Heights hung around and found themselves down 51-45 after three quarters. Clara Waidley got the Saints within a deuce at 51-49 with 8:13 remaining but
Courtney Murphy responded with her own triple on the next possession for DU. The Panthers led 61-56 with 4:55 to go when they scored the next seven points to put the game away. Brower hit a big three and then assisted on a fast-break bucket by
Molly Babbs to run the lead to double digits with 3:10 left. Babbs scored another bucket out of a Siena Heights timeout to lead by a dozen at 68-56 with 2:37 to play.
Davenport shot 47.1 percent (8-of-17) in the fourth quarter making 3-of-6 behind the arc. They also had just one turnover and five assists. Murphy scored six of her team-high 15 points in the final quarter. Sewell finished the game with 10 points and eight rebounds in 23 minutes. Brower scored nine points and dished out three assists in 28 minutes.
Jenna Falkenberg came off the bench to put together 10 rebounds, eight points and four steals in just 13 minutes.