Lady Knights Take Seventh Place at SIT

Adam Coulter - Fri 05:24 PM 01/18/2013

Sacred Heart took a big lead and held off a late Smoky Valley comeback for a 7th place SIT finish.

Sacred Heart took a big lead and held off a late Smoky Valley comeback for a 35-31 win and 7th place finish at the 2013 SIT.

In a game where the Lady Knights never trailed, a blowout soon turned into an exciting finish.

A 9-0 run to end the first quarter gave Sacred Heart an 11-2. Smoky Valley was held without a field goal until early in the second quarter and Sacred Heart extended its lead to 19-7 at halftime.

The Lady Knights scored the first five points of the third quarter to build their biggest lead of their game at 24-7. Then, Smoky Valley began its comeback.

The Lady Vikings trailed 26-12 going into the final quarter and, eventually, pulled within three points twice and then came as close as 33-31. Two Cara Donley free throws gave the Lady Knights a two-possession lead in the final seconds as Sacred Heart held on for the win.

Donley led the Knights with 13 points and Tracie Thibault added seven. Megan Gilliland, Megan Stein, and Haley Rapp scored, six, five, and four points, respectively.