Golden Eagles fall to Wethersfield, 46-35

The Lady Geese limited Mercer County to three points in the third quarter and held off a late charge by the Golden Eagles to earn their trip to the semifinals of the LTC Tournament.

Wethersfield had two-point cushions at the end of the first quarter (14-12) and at halftime (23-21), then turned up the defensive heat in the third quarter.

The Lady Geese scored the first six points of the second half to push the lead to 29-21, and Mercer County went nearly six minutes without a point.

“Defensively, we really stepped up in the third quarter,” said Wethersfield coach Shane Tucker.

The Lady Geese led 30-24 going into the final eight minutes, and extended the advantage to 39-26 on a pair of Lauren Schmidt free throws.

A flurry of seven straight points pulled Mercer County within 39-33 with 1:48 to play, but the Lady Geese sealed the win by drilling 7 of 8 free throws down the stretch.

“It was nice to pick up this win and kind of validate that two seed for us,” said Tucker. “I liked the effort from our girls.

Ali Kazubowski led a balanced Wethersfield attack with 12 points, followed by Anissa Jackson with 11 and Schmidt with 10. Anna Jontz chipped in with eight points, including six in the fourth quarter.

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