Lady Mt’neers back in win column to open new year

The Lady Mt’neers won their first game of 2024 Friday night in part of a super night with Lamar thanks to 10 second-half points from junior Cheyenne Bieber.
Lamar opened the game with Jaycee Doss drawing a foul and hitting 1-of-2 at the stripe but was quickly answered by Mt. Vernon’s Addie Hall who nailed a three to take an early 3-1 lead. Audrey Bittle and Maylee Rawlings traded threes but another Hall three gave Mt. Vernon a 9-5 lead. Mt. Vernon ended up getting into a little bit of foul trouble and the Lady Tigers spent most of the second half of the quarter in the bonus.
The Lady Mt’neers started the second quarter hot, and Hall did in particular scoring the first five points of the quarter. Isabel Cloud got on the board after picking up a pair of first quarter fouls and watching the final four minutes on the bench and gave Mt. Vernon a 16-12 lead early in the quarter. Defense began to take over in the second half of the quarter but five free throws from Lamar and three points from Mt. Vernon gave us a tied ball game at the half, 19-19.
After tight play reigned in the third, to a 34-32 Mt. Vernon lead, action heated up in the fourth quarter as Bieber hit from NBA range on back-to-back possessions to build a 40-34 lead. Free throws kept Lamar in it as the Lady Tigers brought the game back to a 42-40 deficit. Baskets from Mt. Vernon’s Ryleigh Misemer and Audrey Bittle extended the lead back up to 46-41. A bit later, Bieber hit two free throws to extend the lead to 48-44. The Lady Mt’neers then held off the Lady Tigers, 48-47.
The win against Lamar moves the Lady Mt’neers to 5-6 for the year with a couple tough games this week. They opened the week Monday at home against Seneca before taking on Clever Thursday night.