It wasn’t the prettiest of wins, but Millersville managed to defeat Cheyney 66-49 at Cope Hall Monday afternoon in a game that was rescheduled from last Wednesday following water main and power issues at Cope Hall.
Despite the win, the Marauders struggled once again from the field, shooting 19-for-56 (33.9 percent) while holding the Wolves to 18-for-54 shooting (33.3 percent). Cheyney (0-10, 0-14 PSAC East) went 8-for-25 (32 percent) from the foul line.
“We were running around with our heads cut off” in the first half, said Millersville head coach Mary Fleig. “We weren’t really being smart offensively or defensively. I thought we did a better job of execution and scoring and getting after it a little better” compared to last Saturday’s 61-59 home loss to West Chester.
Within the first eight minutes of the game, Millersville (9-5, 6-4) jumped out to a 14-2 lead, which was more than enough against a Cheyney squad still searching for their first win of the season.
Cheyney did get to within six points, 21-15, with 5:36 left in the first half after a three-pointer by Nadirah Brown, who finished with a double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds). The Marauders, however, allowed to Wolves to get no closer in the frame, taking a 30-20 halftime lead.
“We keep coming out with a slow start,” said Millersville guard Carly Gallagher, who finished with 11 points. “We’re just letting our heads get the best of us. We just need to come ready to play right from the get go.”
While the Marauders lead remained in double digits for most of the second half, it wasn’t exactly pretty. The score remained stuck at 46-29 for nearly four minutes as neither team managed to score a point from the 14:08 mark of the second half until 10:10 remained in the game.
Monday’s contest was the closest Cheyney had been in a PSAC game this season, which goes without saying.
“Our goal was not to play down to their level, and we had a lot of mental mistakes,” said Millersville forward Gabrielle Styles. “That’s more frustrating, and that was the difference between (Saturday) and (Monday). We were more fired up to play West Chester than we were to play Cheyney.”
Aurielle Mosley finished with 17 points and six rebounds, while Mashira Newman added 13 for Millersville. Freshman guard Aerie DeJesus had 10 points for Cheyney.
Meanwhile, following last night’s 76-66 loss at Kutztown, Cheyney looks ahead to Saturday when they host Mansfield and hope to snap their 0-for-the-season skid.
“It is frustrating for the players, for everybody,” said Cheyney head coach Marilyn Stephens. “We just have to stay focused.”
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