Balance, quickness lead East to narrow 2015 McDonald's All-American Game girls win

What started as a lopsided West lead turned into a one-sided East game and it ultimately turned into a nail-biter.

In the highest-scoring game in its 14-year history, Notre Dame-bound Marina Mabrey had 12 points and six rebounds to earn co-MVP honors while Louisville signee Asia Durr and Kentucky-bound Taylor Murray had 14 points apiece lo lead the East to an 89-87 McDonald's All-American Game win at the United Center in Chicago.

Taja Cole had 13 points, Brianna Fraser posted 10 points and Ali Patberg added five assists for the winners.

"We've worked hard for this the last few days in practice, so I'm glad we could get it done for our coaches," Mabrey said.

The West got 21 points from Tennessee-bound Te'a Cooper, including 19 of those in the first half, while teammate and North Carolina-bound Stephanie Watts scored 16 of her 19 in the second half. Cooper earned co-MVP honors.

Down 81-69 in the final three minutes, the West made a furious comeback and got a 3-pointer by Connecticut-bound Katie Lou Samuelson (12 points, six rebounds) to close to 87-84 with 32.7 seconds left.

After an East turnover, Samuelson missed a 3-pointer 10 seconds later. Two free throws by Durr with 6.1 seconds left made it 89-84 before Watts drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

It was the second two-point game in two years in the series. Last year the West won 80-78.

The West raced out to a 16-4 lead behind four buckets from Cooper and two by Samuelson. But the East's quickness eventually proved too much.

The game was tied at 32, 34, 36 and 38 before Arike Ogunbowale capped an 8-0 run with a jumper, giving the East a 46-38 advantage. Cooper scored a layup, then a 3-pointer before the half to close to 46-43, but the West never led in the second half.

An 11-2 run early in the third quarter helped the East open up a 66-51 lead. Though strong play from people like Connecticut-bound Napheesa Collier (eight points, 10 rebounds) helped the West close late, the East prevailed.

All 12 players scored for the East, which made 34 of 88 shots (38.6 percent) but forced 19 turnovers. The winners didn't shoot well overall from the field, but made 10 of 22 shots on 3-pointers including two from Durr and Mabrey.

"It feels great (to win)," Durr said. "It's a dream come true."

The West also made 10 3-pointers but it took 39 attempts. They outrebounded the East 65-56 and blocked 16 shots, including four each from Kristine Anigwe (nine points) and Ashley Hearn.

Correspondent Greg Bates contributed to this report.