On consecutive nights the MACU Lady Mustangs came up with thrilling victories to start off the new year. 

Beginning with a hard fought battle at fellow USCAA Division II member Penn State York, the Lady Mustangs would fight through early offensive struggles to find an offensive rhythm and take a 5 point lead into half time.  Some hot shooting to start the second half helped MACU jump ahead by 13 and push their lead in the third quarter to as many as 16 before a quick run by York would once again cut the lead to single digits at the end of the third. 

From there the Lady Mustangs would take control of the fourth quarter and push the lead to 16 before the game would end abruptly with 1:19 to play due to a gas leak in the facility.  Following the excitement and a lengthy delay that would ultimately see the teams rushed from the building, Coaches and Officials met and decided to end the game with a final score of 67-51.  The Lady Mustangs were led in scoring by Talethia Alexander with 24 points on 9-16 shooting.  Mallary Brogden and KaNesha Murray added season highs with 8 rebounds a piece.

The second night of back-to-back games would see MACU take on NCAA Division III Cairn University, a member of the Colonial States Athletic Conference, and would end in a different kind of excitement as the Lady Mustangs would force overtime with a layup at the end of regulation by Tierra Lester.  The first overtime would see both teams battling for control as the lead would go back and forth much like the entire game before a three by Cairn University's EJ Hartzler would tie the game at 73-73 with seconds to go in the period.  A strong defensive stop by the Highlanders would push the game to a second overtime where Cairn would seemingly take control of the game going up by 4 with just over a minute to play. 

However, a deep three-pointer from Talethia Alexander off an assist from Eryka Vincent would cut the lead back to one.  From there the Mustang's would close the door on defense forcing a turnover that would lead to the winning basket by Aleah McNeal.  This was followed by a strong defensive stand forcing an errant shot by the Highlanders and leading to a pair of made free throws by McNeal.  The Highlanders would have one final chance with 3.8 seconds to go but solid defense would lead to one last turnover allowing the Lady Mustangs to outlast the Highlanders and take home a huge win by a final of 86-83. 

The duo of McNeal and Eryka Vincent would combine for 50 points, 11 assists, and 11 rebounds.  However the night would belong to Tierra Lester as she registered her 9th double double of the year with 19 points and a program record 27 rebounds to go along with 6 blocks. 

"I believe in team, with no one person being more important than the team.  What these six ladies have displayed the past two days is that when you work together as a TEAM, you can accomplish some great things.  One player may get the statistics, but they realize that it was an unselfish pass, or a hard box out, or a hustle play by someone else that led to them being able to get that mark in the stat line.  They got these two wins together.  I could not be more proud of them, win or lose."  ~Coach Troxell

The Lady Mustangs return to the court January 13th for the final game of their Pennsylvania tour as they take on the University of Valley Forge at 7 pm.