Lady Lions claw back from 18 down but fall short

Lady Lions senior Belle Gossett started Rushville off sinking a three pointer, but the lead quickly disappeared. Whiteland hit back-to-back shots, Briley Munchel and Gossett each hit a basket and Munchel went to the free throw line and hit to give Rushville a 9-7 lead. The Lady Warriors held with RCHS and Addison Emberton dropped in a 10-footer to put Whiteland up 16-13. Erika Kuhn added one from the charity stripe and the Lady Lions were behind 16-14 after one period.

The Lady Warriors dominated the second frame opening up with a 20-4 run that ate up most of the clock in the period. Munchel hit a long ball to break a three-minute scoreless stretch for Rushville. Whiteland went into halftime up by 16 with the score 37-21. They outscored the Lady Lions 21-7 in the quarter. The third quarter looked like the Lady Warriors would run away with it hitting two quick shots. The Rushville defense stood their ground and held Whiteland to just six more points in the quarter. The Lady Lions finished the quarter on an 11-2 run thanks to Leonie Boyer who went six for six from the free throw line in the period. Rushville finished the third period down by just nine, 47-38.

The final period started with a Whiteland free throw, then two long balls in a row from Gossett pulled the Lady Lions within six. Whiteland’s center Brooklyn Taylor then scored six points and Rushville was down by nine again. Another Gossett trey kept the Lady Warriors from pulling away, but Emberton added the final six points for Whiteland and the Lady Lions lost 60-50. The loss has Rushville at 4-4 on the season. Next up is a tough EIAC match up hosting Greensburg on Saturday evening.

Rushville was led in scoring by the senior duo of Gossett and Munchel who both scored 16 points on the night. Boyer scored 15, Oliva Smith 2, Kuhn 1.