MidValleySports.Com

(Pasadena) – L.A. Baptist’s defense came up big in the second quarter to lead the way to a 55-49 Olympic League win over host Maranatha.

The Knights relied on a huge defensive performance in the second quarter that allowed them to take a six-point lead into the second half.

After spotting the Minutemen an eight point lead with 5:45 remaining in the half, L.A. Baptist began to chip away at the lead with defensive stops.

Monet McNally scored eight of her team-high 21 points in the second quarter including a defensive series that saw her make two steals and six points in a span of one minute. That flurry turned a one-point deficit to an eight point lead with less than 11 seconds remaining.

With the Knights stepping up thier defense in the second quarter, Maranatha’s big-two stars Mian Dingle and Kaila Turner were stymied at every turn only scoring a combined four points in the quarter.

Turner eventually came out of her slump and finished with a game-high 24 for the Minutemen. Dingle was held scoreless the remainder of the game to finish with nine points.

The beginning of the third quarter with L.A. Baptist going on a 9-2 run with McNally continuing her dominating play to make the score 35-22 with three minutes remaining.

Turner stopped the run with a trey to cut the lead back to ten points only to have McNally assist on the very next two Knights buckets by Jaime Shuster to extend the lead to fourteen.

The final stanza was almost the undoing for L.A. Baptist with its free-throw shooting nearly proving to be the difference down the stretch.

A comfortable 16-point lead turned into a nail-biting finish thanks to the missed free throws while being in the bonus the final 2:44.

Turner and Michelle Hsu each hit key three pointers to get as close as four with 22 seconds remaining in the game.

After McNally hit one of her two free throws, Turner got in position to fire a three only to miss with 13 seconds remaining.