Pride come up clutch late in 69-63 win over Mount Mercy

DUBUQUE, Iowa - Facing off against their closest conference foe for the first time this season, the Clarke University women's basketball team earned a six-point win by a final score of 69-63 against Mount Mercy University at the Kehl Center on Wednesday night.

A rivalry game atmosphere from the tip, the Pride were able to feel the support of their home fans to overcome an eight-point first quarter deficit, being down one at halftime, and trailing by six in the third at a 45-39 advantage for MMU with four minutes to go in the quarter.

CU went on a quick 8-0 run to take their first lead since late in the second quarter before trading three pointers and a Zoe Kennedy layup to make it a four-point Pride advantage heading into the fourth, where they would end up extending that run to 17-3 to lead by eight points of their own at 56-48 with just under eight minutes to go.

Clarke would never relinquish that lead despite the Mustangs best effort to keep the game interesting, cutting it to a one-possession game twice in the late stages, including a three-point game with under a minute to go and Clarke with the ball.

In that possession, the Pride would find Hailey Walters open for three, but the shot wouldn't fall as the rebound was tipped around and headed out of bounds, Walters knew it was last touched by one of her teammates so she hustled to keep the ball in play where it would eventually end up in the hands of Camdyn Kay, who took a three pointer of her own, draining it to give CU a six-point lead with 20 seconds left at the eventual final score of 69-63.

Kay and Walters were two of the scoring stars for the Pride on Wednesday night as they combined for 33 points while pitching in on both ends of the floor as Walters produced 16 points and a career-high 10 rebounds for her first career double-double at Clarke while Kay scored 17 points while adding four rebounds and four steals.

Clarke's leading scorer was who else but the reigning Heart Offensive Player of the Week in Kennedy as she produced a 19-point, seven-rebound, four-assist night with the last two starts in the lineup of Reese Ryan and Josie Potts stuffing the statsheet in their own ways with Potts finishing at nine points, four rebounds, three assists, and a steal and Ryan adding four points, 10 rebounds, two blocks, an assist, and a steal.

Part of the rowdy environment in the Kehl Center was due in part to a pair of Mustang starters having a bit of a homecoming as former CU women's basketball players Aubrey Luvan and Sydni Morris returned to Dubuque for the first time after Luvan spent 2023-2025 on the Pride roster and Morris started 26 games in the 2024-25 season.

Entering the game as Mount Mercy's leading scorer and rebounder, Morris was held in check, primarily by Ryan, as she went 3-for-11 (27.2%) from the floor for six points and added eight rebounds in 25 minutes while Luvan played all 40 minutes to a strong 10 points while adding three assists, two rebounds, and a steal.

MMU's leading scorers came from the bench duo of Candace Baker and Sadie Struchen who scored 23 and 15 points respectively and each hit five three pointers in the game as that three point shooting is what kept the Mustangs alive, hitting 13 triples as a team compared to Clarke just making four.

Clarke women's basketball will hit the road for their next game when they travel to Parkville, Mo. for a Saturday, Feb. 7 matchup against Park University for a scheduled 12:00 p.m. CT opening tip between the Pride and Pirates.