By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
ST. JOSEPH - A slow start once again cost the Dowagiac varsity basketball team a shot at victory.
The Chieftains (2-3, 0-1) trailed host St. Joseph 22-14 at halftime in a 54-48 loss to the Lady Bears Tuesday night.
Dowagiac played nearly dead even with St. Joseph in the second half, but the damage had already been done.
Dowagiac and St. Joseph played an even first quarter with the Lady Bears grabbing a 9-8 lead.
St. Joseph, however, outscored Dowagiac 13-6 in the second quarter to take the eight-point halftime advantage.
The Chieftains struggled from the field in the opening 16 minutes, hitting just 5-of-23 shots from the field.
The Lady Bears on the other hand, shot 38 percent from the floor (8-21) and were 3-of-4 from the free throw line.
Dowagiac picked up its shooting percentage in the second half (10-of-23) and were 11-of-14 from the free throw line.
The Chieftains didn't slow the Lady Bears down much from the floor as they hit 43 percent of their attempts (9-of-19) and were 10-of-14 from the free throw line.
St. Joseph's Anna Schueneman was a perfect 6-of-6 in the fourth quarter to help keep St. Joseph out in front.
St. Joseph outscored Dowagiac 17-16 in the third quarter, however, the Chieftains turned the tables in the final eight minutes and outscored the Lady Bears 16-15.
The Chieftains' pressure defense created numerous turnovers in the second half which led to easy baskets.
But in the end, Dowagiac had nearly as many miscues as St. Joseph (17-15) which did not allow the Chieftains to sustain any offensive scoring sprees.
It seemed like every time Dowagiac would make a run at the Lady Bears, the Chieftains would turn the ball over or miss a shot which would have cut the lead down even further.
Sophomore Katy Stuppy led Dowagiac with 21 points. Stuppy also had five rebounds and eight assists.
Junior Holly Lowe had her best offensive night of the season with 17 points.
Kim Luthringer added four points and eight rebounds.
St. Joseph's Rebecca Ziebart led all scorers with 22 points.
Megan Mejeur added 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Schueneman finished with nine points and four assists.
Dowagiac will get back in action on Friday when it travels to Kalamazoo to at Loy Norrix High School..
The Chieftains will face Temperance Bedford at 5:30 p.m.
DOWAGIAC 48
Holly Lowe 6 0-0 17, Amy Wood 1 0-0 2, Katy Stuppy 5 10-14 21, Kim Luthringer 1 2-2 4, Kristy Cooper 1 0-0 2, Beth Williams 0 0-0 0, Sarah Ostyn 0 0-0 0, Jolynn Hawkins 1 0-0 2. Totals: 15 12-16 48
ST. JOSEPH 54
Megan Mejeur 5 5-10 17, Anna Schueneman 1 6-6 9, Rebecca Ziebart 7 2-2 22, Jordan Goslee 1 0-0 2, Molly Emlong 0 0-0 0, Michelle Bendewald 0 0-0 0, Brittney Benya 0 0-0 0, Megan Young 0 0-0 0, Lauren Maddox 0 0-0 0, Kingsley Ryan 0 0-0 0, Maria Kish 0 0-0 0, Andrea Vonk 2 0-0 4. Totals 17 13-18 54
Dowagiac 8 14 30 48
St. Joe 9 22 39 54
Three-point baskets: Holly Lowe (D) 5, Stuppy (D), Schueneman (SJ), Ziebart (SJ) 6. Total fouls: Dowagiac 17, St. Joseph 17. Fouled out: Hawkins (D). Technical fouls: None.