Women's Basketball | 2/21/2010 12:00:00 AM
Box Score North Newton, Kan. – The McPherson College women’s basketball team found themselves within four after the opening 20 minutes, but a 14-2 second half Thresher run proved to be too much for the Bulldogs to recover from, as Bethel defeated McPherson, 64-55, at Thresher Gymnasium Saturday evening.
With the win, Bethel locked up the fourth seed in the KCAC tournament. The Threshers finished the regular season 16-10 overall and 12-6 in league action. McPherson’s third straight loss drops them to 6-20 overall and 3-15 in league play. The Bulldogs will have the No. 10 seed in the KCAC tournament.
Bethel opened the game on a 6-0 run thanks to an Angela Wood and Krishna Phifer three-pointers in the game’s first four minutes, but the Bulldogs answered to tie the game at eight with 11:16 remaining in the half.
McPherson held a four point, 18-14, advantage late in the first half after Kristen Ozbun nailed a three-pointer at the 6:12 mark. However, the Bulldogs would be held without a field goal until under a minute left to allow Bethel to enter the halftime locker room up 25-21.
Shireana Robinson and Brooke Weisenburger scored nine of McPherson’s first 11 points out of the break as the Bulldogs took a five point lead, 32-27 with 15:16 left.
Bethel came back to tie the game at 34 before rattling off a 14-2 run that spanned nearly five minutes of the second half. The streak gave the Threshers a 49-36 advantage with 7:23 left in the game. McPherson would pull within five, 57-52 at the 2:47 mark, but the Threshers proved too strong down the stretch.
McPherson ended the game shooting 35.1 percent from the field, including connecting on 12-of-30 attempts in the second half. McPherson was out-rebounded by the Threshers, 37-47.
Freshman Shireana Robinson was the lone Bulldog in double figures with 13 points and seven rebounds on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. Angela Wood finished with 14 points to lead the Threshers, while Bachman added 12.
The Bulldogs now travel to Ottawa, Kan., for the Play-In round of the KCAC Conference Tournament matchup against Ottawa University. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 22.
