BURCH’S DOUBLE DOUBLE ENDS MOONEY’S WIN STREAK

Rebounding and free throws, redundant in practice but key to winning games. And those were the two areas of struggle for the Lady Cardinals tonight in their loss to the Warren Harding Raiders.

A strong first quarter, with Mooney’s trademark defense, held the high octane Raider offense to only 9 points. But the bigs for Harding, specifically Faith Burch, dominated the glass from the opening moments of the second quarter. Burch would finish with a double double, 20 points and 10 rebounds. Mooney was outscored 22-9 in the quarter. Mooney also struggled from the line, shooting just over 50% on the day.

The Cardinals made a small run at the start of the third quarter, 6 straight points from Catie Perry cut the deficit to 10. But Burch and Heilman were simply too much underneath. Mooney would lose 56-39, their first loss in over a month. Mooney has a quick turnaround as they will host the Crestview Rebels on Monday.