Girls Basketball: Stone Bridge Sophomore Tiernan Leads Bulldogs to Top of Liberty District Standings

By Dan Sousa
VivaLoudoun Editor

Ashburn (Jan. 26, 2011) - Last spring as a freshman, Murielle Tiernan helped Stone Bridge High School to a state title in girls soccer and this winter the talented sophomore has led the Bulldogs to a 16-1 start and a No. 20 ranking in the Washington Post Metro Poll.

It seems that Tiernan can do just about whatever she wants to do -- including our taxes next month if we just asked her! -- after she scored 22 points Tuesday, including the final six for Stone Bridge, and had nearly as many rebounds as the Bulldogs (8-1, 16-1) beat Madison, 47-43, at home to avenge their only loss of the season and break out of a 3-way tie in the Liberty District standings and take sole possession of first ahead of Madison (7-2, 11-5) and Fairfax (7-2, 12-5).

"Our girls kept battling and finally got the ball inside to Murielle," said Stone Bridge coach Chris Jones, who called Tiernan's double-double just a "normal game for her."

At 5-foot-10 Tiernan presents teams with a real match-up dilemma as she plays inside as if she was easily 6-foot or 6-1 and she runs the court with the speed and quickness of a point guard.

With Madison playing without 6-3 senior Anna Jay, who had seven block shots in the Warhawks 54-40 win over Stone Bridge in December, Tiernan was able to control the paint.

While the Bulldogs were up by eight points early in the fourth quarter, 39-31, after Tiernan stole a Madison pass and senior Cori Prince converted on the other end with a nice touch off the glass, the Warhawks fought back behind the transition play of sophomore Megan LeDuc, who finished with a team-high 14 while teammate senior Carmen Mann had 13.

It was LeDuc and Mann with back-to-back baskets to make it 39-35 with 4:53 to go. After Madison missed a makeable fastbreak layin, Stone Bridge responded with sophomore Nicole Prince making a determined drive to the basket from near halfcourt. LeDuc's layin with 3:05 left made it 41-37.

Madison sophomore Megan Henshaw was fouled shooting a 3-pointer with 2:39 to go and she converted on two of the three foul shots, slicing the lead to 41-39. About a minute later, Madison tied the contest, 41-41, with Mann working on the block.

Tiernan called for he ball inside and got to the foul line with 1:32 left, making both to give Stone Bridge a 43-41 lead.

In the final 90 seconds Stone Bridge picked up its defensive pressure without fouling Madison, forcing three missed shots. On the other end, Tiernan drove down the right side of the lane from the foul line and banked it with just under a minute to go to put Stone Bridge ahead.

Madison, forced to foul, put Stone Bridge on the line three times with 1-and-1 situations and the Bulldogs missed the front end of all three attempts but on the final miss, it was Tiernan grabbing a loose ball and scoring the game's final points at the buzzer.

While Tiernan was the only Bulldog in double figures, Stone Bridge found scoring from five other players with the Prince sisters accounting for 11, senior Kayliegh Guzek scoring five and working against the Madison defensive pressure and Kayla Sleece had some key rebounds and scored five, while freshman Megan Della-Penna scored four.

"This is good for the girls. It is nice for them as there were 3-18 just a couple of years
ago," said Jones.

Video highlights of the closing minute starting with Tiernan sinking two free throws to break a 41-41 tie

Stone Bridge 47, Madison 43
M -  14   7   7 15 - 43
SB - 13 10 12 12 - 47
M: LeDuc 14, Mann 13, Henshaw 9, Gauf 4, Schrock 3.
SB: Tiernan 22, CPrince 7, Sleece 5, Guzek 5, NPrince 4, Della-Penna 4.