The West Liberty-Salem Tigers waltzed into their match on Monday with three straight wins but they left with four. They walked away with a 58-49 victory over Urbana. That's another feather in the cap for West Liberty-Salem, who also won these teams' last head-to-head.
West Liberty-Salem's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Ava Astorino led the charge by scoring 22 points along with two steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Astorino has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Lilly Weaver, who scored 14 points along with five rebounds and three steals.
When it comes to explaining why Urbana lost, one person who can't be blamed is Peyton Mounce. Despite the final result, she scored 23 points along with eight rebounds and five steals. Mounce has been hot recently, having posted two or more blocks the last 15 times she's played. Alexandra Dixon was another key contributor, scoring 12 points along with five rebounds.
Even though they lost, Urbana smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as West Liberty-Salem only pulled down four offensive rebounds.
West Liberty-Salem has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 11 of their last 12 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 14-2 record this season. As for Urbana, their loss dropped their record down to 14-3.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. West Liberty-Salem on the road again on Saturday and play against Fairbanks at 7:30 p.m. on January 27th. Hopefully Fairbanks focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 14 on Wednesday. As for Urbana, they will head out on the road to take on Jonathan Alder at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
