Women's Basketball | 2/9/2011 9:40:13 AM
Game 25: McPherson College (5-19, 3-11 KCAC) at Tabor College (9-15, 6-8)
Thursday, February 10, 2011 | 6:00 p.m. | Tabor Gymnasium | Hillsboro, Kan.
Game Notes (PDF)
Live Audio
The Matchup
The McPherson College women’s basketball program closes a two-game road swing when the Bulldogs travel to Tabor College on Thursday night. Tipoff between the Bulldogs and Blue Jays is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. from Tabor Gymnasium.
The game will be broadcast in the McPherson area by 96.7 FM KBBE Mid-Kansas Radio and an audio stream will be available at www.macbulldogs.com. McPherson College play-by-play announcer Nick Gosnell will have the call.
McPherson (5-19, 3-11) enters the contest riding a three game winless streak, including a 89-62 loss at RV Southwestern College last Saturday. In that game, the Bulldogs shot only 35.9 percent (23-of-64) from the field and turned the ball over 21 times. Southwestern outscored McPherson 30-3 from beyond the three-point line. A bright spot in the loss was MC’s free throw shooting, as the Bulldogs connected on 15-of-17 (88.2 percent) from the foul line.
Freshman guard
Madison Chambers (Wellsville, Kan.) scored a career-high 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting and 6-of-6 shooting from the foul line in the loss. Senior guard
Kristen Ozbun (Rose Hill, Kan.) added 14 and junior Brooke Weisenburger tallied 11 points in the effort.
Lack of offensive production has been the major problem for the Bulldogs during the streak, including two games where MC recorded less than 50 points. McPherson will look to get their offense back on track against the Blue Jays.
Tabor (9-15, 6-8 KCAC), much like McPherson, enters the week riding a four game losing streak, including losses against Sterling College (40-71), Kansas Wesleyan University (60-65), Ottawa University (60-65) and Bethel College (65-79). Prior to the streak, TC had won six of their last eight.
Following Tabor, McPherson returns home for their KCAC Game of the Week matchup with Bethany College on Saturday. Tipoff between the Bulldogs and Swedes is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. The contest corresponds with the McPherson Alumni Department’s Red Out event.
Scouting Tabor
The Blue Jays enter Thursday’s game looking to snap a four game losing streak, including a 79-65 defeat against Bethel College last Saturday night. Tabor, who had won six of eight prior to the losing streak, is 9-15 on the season and 6-8 in league play.
Against Bethel, Tabor, which ranks fourth in the KCAC in scoring defense (62.2 points per game), struggled defensively. The Threshers shot 60.0 percent from the field in the first half, including seven three pointers. The 44-33 halftime deficit proved too much despite TC shooting a respectable 41.2 percent (21-of-51). Sophomore forward Tynan Honn led the team with 16 points and six rebounds, while Whitney Polosky added 15 points and six rebounds.
Tabor, which features one of the youngest lineups in the conference, is led in scoring by Polosky. The sophomore transfer from the University of New Mexico Highlands averages 11.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, while shooting 34.9 percent from the floor. She turned up her game over the last five contests, averaging 15.8 points and 7.2 rebounds, including a season-high 21 points against the University of Saint Mary on January 22.
Fellow UNM Highlands transfer, Katlyn Mary is the only other Blue Jay scoring doubles figures at 10.5 points per game. She leads the team with 55 assists and 41 steals. In the first meeting with McPherson, Mary scored a game-high 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting.
Rebounding has been an issue for the Jays so far this season, as they are being out-boarded 953 to 771.
Tabor is coached by Shawn Winter and assisted by Erin Barocio and Mary Fadenrecht.
In their last meeting...
McPherson, Kan. – The McPherson College women’s basketball fell, 44-49, to the visiting Tabor College Blue Jays Saturday night in KCAC action.
With the loss, McPherson falls to 3-13 overall and 1-5 in conference play, while Tabor wins their second straight to improve to 6-10 overall and 3-3 in KCAC action.
McPherson jumped out to the early 10-2 lead, but failed to hold off the Blue Jay offensive attack as TC took a 23-19 lead into the break.
The Bulldogs ended the period shooting 29.6 percent (8-of-27) from the field, while the Jays shot 41.7 percent (10-of-24). McPherson held a 21-13 rebounding advantage, but turned the ball over 12 times in the opening 12 minutes.
Much like the first half, the game remained close before a pair of Kristen Ozbun (Rose Hill, Kan.) free throws tied the score, 42-42 with around two minutes remaining. However, Tabor would again swing the momentum back in their favor as the Jays twice found holes in the Bulldog zone to earn a pair of easy layups to take 47-44 advantage into the final seconds of play. Ozbun would have a final chance to tie the game, but her three-point attempt bounced out of the basket. Tabor connected on two free throws to put the game out of reach.
Ozbun led the Bulldogs with nine points, while Elice Frey (Riley, Kan.) added eight points and a team-high five rebounds. MC shot just 30.6 percent (15-of-49) from the field, 12.5 percent (2-of-16) from three-point range and 66.7 percent (12-of-18) from the free throw line. McPherson held a 43-30 edge in rebounding.
Katlyn Mary paced the Blue Jay offense with 12 points, while Gina Hullet added 11 and Whitney Polosky chipped in 10 points. Tabor finished the night shooting 36.7 percent (18-of-49) from the field and 50.0 percent (11-of-22) from the free throw line.
McPherson returns to action Thursday night when they travel to Bethany College. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
