MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The MSOE women's basketball team hosted their opening round matchup of the NAAC Tournament Wednesday night, falling 61-59 despite a furious comeback by the Raiders.

RESULT

MSOE RAIDERS – 59

Aurora University - 61

HOW IT HAPPENED

• MSOE (18-8, 12-5 NACC) and Aurora (20-6, 13-4 NACC) slugged it out in a defensive minded first quarter, with neither team making a basket in the opening 2:33, before the Spartans and Raiders traded threes.  The Spartans 2-3 zone would frustrate the Raider offense early, as the first quarter came to a close the score was 11-5 in favor of Aurora.
• The Spartans zone would continued to hamper the Raider offense, holding MSOE to 22.6% from the floor.   The Raiders would go into the break trailing 36-19.
• MSOE would come out of halftime guns blazing, with Mahima Chokshi and Nicole Levine hitting back-to-back threes to open the third as the Raiders cut the Spartan lead to single digits midway through the third frame.  Despite bring the game to a single possession, the Spartans would hit back-to-back threes of their own to close the third quarter with the Raiders trailing 50-43. 
• The Raiders continued to chip away at the Spartans lead in the fourth, with Levine and Dani Mendez combining to hit six straight free throws and bring MSOE within five of the Spartans.  Levine and Mendez would convert their next two trips down the court to bring the score to 56-55 in favor of Aurora.  Mendez would hit two more free throws and after a timely rebound from Raekyiah Williams, the Raiders held the ball with seven seconds left, but were unable to convert at the buzzer and fell 61-59.

MSOE STAT TRACKER
Points – Nicole Levine (19)
Rebounds – Dani Mendez (11)
Assists – Four with two
Steals – Mahima Chokshi (3)

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