W. Aurora goes 2-0 with close win over Rosary

The West Aurora girls basketball team is 2-0 in close games this year.

In the Blackhawks' first game of the season, they edged Glenbard West. On Tuesday, they narrowly beat Rosary, 50-49, in nonconference action at West Aurora.

"We stuck together as a team and didn't allow things to fall apart," West Aurora's Tyronza McGowan said. "We kept everything going. We didn't give up."

"As a team, we grew," added West Aurora coach Connie Siljendahl. "I was very proud of them today."

After four ties in the fourth quarter, West Aurora took the lead for good with 2:03 left in the game after a 3-pointer from McGowan that gave her team a 46-43 advantage.

Both teams exchanged free throws the rest of the way. Rosary had a chance to tie the game with no time remaining, but the Royals failed to connect on a free throw that would have sent the game to overtime.

The Royals (5-3) had come back from a low-scoring first half when they scored just 10 points, thanks to West Aurora's defense.

"Their defense prevented a lot," Rosary coach Dave Beebe said. "I want to give them credit for that. When we can't get the ball across half court because they are playing good defense, it's hard to score when you can't get it across."

"We've been working on defense because I think the bread and butter comes from the defense," Siljendahl added.

"We were moving our feet. We tried something different. I have to give these guys a lot of credit. We threw in a press here...I think we've maybe had two days of practice with this press. They are just so quick and so athletic."

Rosary was trailing 24-11 at the start of the third, but was able to reduce West Aurora's lead to 34-31 after a 10-2 run, led by three different players.

The Royals tied the game for the first time at 34 after a 3-pointer from Victoria Alvarez that opened up the fourth quarter.

The last lead Rosary had was 43-32 after a Katie Eckberg free throw with 3:24 left to play.

West Aurora was led by three players in double-digits -- McGowan (12 points, 3 steals), Kyra Watson (13 points, 3 steals) and Kiara Towles (12 points, team-high 6 rebounds).

Faith Jones led the Royals with 18 points, including a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. Alvarez finished with 10 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals and Jordan Rettig grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to go with her 8 points.