Lauren Fitch provided a spark off the bench by pouring in a season-high 19 points, helping propel the ULM women's basketball team to their fifth straight win with a 72-65 victory over Mississippi Valley State Sunday afternoon at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
The win marks ULM's first five-game winning streak since a nine-game winning streak spanning from Nov. 17 to Dec. 9, 2006.
MVSU didn't make it easy for the Warhawks to pick up their fifth straight win.
"I know it wasn't pretty," head coach Jeff Dow said. "We just got done with final exams. Sometimes you just never quite know what to expect from your team in that first game after finals. At times, I thought we looked a little sluggish in all phases."
After leading wire-to-wire in each of the last two games, the Warhawks trailed for much of the first quarter against MVSU. The Devilettes scored the first five points of the game, and didn't surrender the lead until ULM went on a 6-0 spurt in the final three minutes of the quarter, tying the game on a layup by Fitch, and then taking the lead on a jumper by Jamie Means to lead 12-10. MVSU quickly tied the game back up before Fitch hit another layup to give ULM a 14-12 advantage after a quarter.
The Warhawks pushed the lead to seven twice in the second quarter, leading 22-15 with 5:23 left in the half on a layup by Arsula Clark. However, the Devilettes made another charge, eventually scoring the final five points of the half to take a 28-27 lead at the break.
Even though the Warhawks trailed at the half, Fitch's 10 first half points provided a boost.
"I felt like there wasn't really much going right offensively except for Lauren Fitch getting all the way to the rim continually," Dow said. "That was good to see. Sometimes she's almost her own little one-man press break putting the ball in her hands as quick as she is. She definitely struggled with the ankle injury for two or three games, but I think she's back to full strength."
Both teams had a tough time offensively in the third quarter, which featured three lead changes and three ties. The Warhawks took the final lead change of the game on a three-pointer from Destini Lunsford, her second of the quarter, to go up 39-37 with 3:23 left in the second quarter. ULM led 43-40 after three quarters.
In the final frame, ULM never gave up the lead, but MVSU wouldn't go away quietly. The Warhawks built as much as a 10-point lead at 64-54 on free throws by Fitch with 2:32 left. But the Devilettes turned up the pressure defensively and knocked down timely shots and free throws, getting as close as three at 64-61 with 1:20 to go. ULM answered with a layup by Clark, and then connected on free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.
"I told the team in the locker room after the game, 'trust me, I'm a lot happier than what I may appear right now,'" Dow said. "We found a way to get a win. I was a little disappointed, we had the lead up to 10 and then that quickly got whittled down, but we did what we had to do. As a group, I think they understand that we have to play better than that. We've got to clean some things up."
The Warhawks have relied on defense in the five-game winning streak, but Dow said it wasn't quite the same strength on Sunday. ULM held the Devilettes to 35.9 percent shooting from the field and 30 percent from three-point range.
"There were some things I'd like to think were a little out of character," Dow said. "We've been doing a really good job of keeping teams off the free throw line, but they shot 19 today, so that's a little bit high for us. Even against the zone, we were giving up some straight line drives we don't typically give up. Let's give some credit to their players, too. They've got some quick guards."
MVSU out-rebounded ULM 42-36.
"I thought a big area of emphasis all week, and unfortunately, it didn't show much improvement, was in the rebounding side of things," Dow said. "Coming into the game, they were getting out-rebounded on average by 20. We felt like this is a team we could have had some success with and disappointed to only come away with six offensive rebounds and get out-rebounded."
The Warhawks still found a way to win, even though it was a struggle at times.
"Destini Lunsford had a tough first half, and then comes out in the second half and knocks down a couple big threes," Dow said. "Amber Thompson, in and out of the game with foul trouble, comes out and hits a couple big threes in the second half. Whitney Goins hadn't attempted a three all game and hits a huge one late in the game, so that was big as well. I think the confidence is definitely growing. I think we know, at least I hope we know, there's room for improvement and by no means are we a finished product."
In addition to Fitch's 19 points, Clark added 16 points and eight rebounds, while Lunsford and Thompson had 10 points each. Goins dished out a career-high seven assists. MVSU was led by 19 points from LaKendra Bassett, while Makayla Bonner added 14 points, Kristy Parker tallied 12 and Nyla Smith posted a double double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
The Warhawks host Nicholls State at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Fant-Ewing Coliseum. More information, including information on tickets and links to the live video stream and stats, is available at ulmwarhawks.com.
