Richmond's efforts carry Morgan Park

Updated: March 22, 2011 4:54PM

Gabrielle Richmond was a rebounding machine Tuesday night for Morgan Park against visiting Mother McAuley. She pulled down 14 of them.

But it was one offensive move in the post that has to go down as Richmond's most valuable contribution in the No. 21 Mustangs' 43-40 victory before a standing-room-only crowd.

The No. 14 Mighty Macs had cut a 35-25 deficit with 5:20 remaining down to 35-32 with just over three minutes left when the 6-foot-1 junior made a spin move and hit a turnaround jumper to stick a fork in McAuley's momentum.

"(Monday night) we were here until seven or eight o'clock working on post moves," Richmond said. "I was told that I was going to have to step up and play big. And those were the moves we were working on."

Richmond had a double-double, with 10 points to go along with her game-high rebound total. Kendyl Nunn poured in 18 points for the Mustangs (4-1).

McAuley (1-4), playing without senior guard/forward Margaret Wildner, was led by Alyssa Siwek (12 points), Brenna Nolan (10 points) and Tatianna Ingram (seven rebounds).

The Mustangs celebrated their first home game after starting the season on the road - a very far road. They were 3-1 at the Pontiac Thanksgiving Tournament, losing the title game to Peoria Richwoods.

"I think that's why were underrated, underranked," Nunn said. "We were playing so far away. We weren't playing any city schools. Today we had to prove a point."

The Mustangs also came into the season less strong than many figured at the end of the 2009-10 season after twin towers Anaya and Nia Moore transferred to Bolingbrook.

"We knew that somebody was going to leave and we knew that would make us work harder," Nunn said. "We were just going to forget that they left and play hard like we knew we could."

The Mustangs survived some early three-point artistry by the Macs. They trailed almost the entire first half before going out in front for good on a three-point play by Nunn in the closing minute. It was 20-19 Morgan Park at intermission.

The lead hovered between one and five points until the outset of the fourth quarter when Nunn stopped and popped from three-point range to make it 33-25. The Mustangs defense then stopped McAuley on the next few possessions before a putback by Richmond made it a 10-point lead.

McAuley hit five of its next six free throws to climb back in it, and got to within 35-32 on a layup by Nolan. Back-to-back defensive breakdowns, however, undid the Macs' plan for a fantastic finish.

"Our defense was horrible. There's your sum right there," McAuley coach Karen Ade said. "We didn't play defense how we're capable of playing defense and that hurt us.

"We have guards that don't want to shoot the ball. When teams play us zone we have to shoot and attack and gaps, and we don't. We're still learning. I mean, our first five games (Bogan, Hersey, Stevenson, Marian Catholic, Morgan Park) are probably the toughest five games anyone has, I would think."

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