NORTH MANCHESTER, IND. – A 30-8 run over the opening 14-minutes-plus of the second half helped lift Manchester University to a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference victory Saturday, Jan. 24.
After a tightly-contested first 20 minutes which closed with the Spartans (9-8 overall, 6-4 HCAC) holding a 39-37 lead at the break, visiting Earlham College (5-12 overall, 2-8 HCAC) didn't reach 10 points in the second half until 5:47 remained. During that time, the home side, much to the delight of the crowd inside Stauffer-Wolfe Arena, stretched the lead out to as much as 24.
Senior center Alyssa Hammond (Osgood, Ind.) led the attack with 19 points, while junior guard Justine Kruger (Francesville, Ind.) joined her in double figures with 15 points. Kruger also took away three steals. Other top numbers for MU, winners of six of their last eight, were compiled by senior guard Alyssa Smith (Bluffton, Ind.) who was just two points short of her third straight double-double (eight points, 11 rebounds); junior guard Katie Arterburn (Indianapolis, Ind.) who tallied a team-high five assists; and the freshman forward duo of Victoria Christlieb (Culver, Ind.) and Samantha Bolen (Greenwood, Ind.) who came off the bench for strong eight-point, four-rebound (Christlieb) and eight-point, five-rebound afternoons (Bolen).
The Black and Gold play the second of four straight home games Wednesday, Jan. 28. Franklin College comes to North Manchester for a 7:30 p.m. start.
NOTES: The win moved the Spartans into fifth place on the loop standings, just a game behind a three-way tie for second … Hammond registered her 11th double-figure scoring contest and remained atop the squad's scoring column (11.4 points per game) … Smith reeled off her third straight 11-rebound outing. She's increased her rebounds per contest average more than one (4.9-6) in the span.