Women's Basketball | 2/1/2013 11:39:00 AM
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McPherson, Kan. – The 13-10, 7-6 Lady Bulldogs will look to tie Coach Rolfs’ most wins in a season as a collegiate coach when the travel to Leavenworth, Kansas to face the Spires of the University of Saint Mary. The game is scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m. (CT) on February 2nd.
The contest will be broadcasted live in the McPherson area on 96.7 FM KBBE Mid-Kansas Radio and on the world wide web at Macbulldogs.com with Nick Gosnell on the call with Steve Sell providing the color commentary for the broadcast. You can also watch the game via ihigh.com/macbulldogs. All links to live game statistics, audio or video can be found at Macbulldogs.com
The ‘Dogs are coming off a tough home loss as they were defeated by the Southwestern College Moundbuilders on Thursday. MC controlled the first few minutes of the game, getting up early and then trading baskets with the Builders. SWC went on a 19-4 run to take a 29-18 lead halfway through the period. The Lady Bulldogs stayed down by double figures for most of the rest of the half, pulling within eight at one point but went into the locker room trailing 40-30.
Southwestern jumped out to a 17-point advantage with less than two minutes gone by in the second half. Mac made a push and pulled within seven points but the Lady Builders jumped right back up to a 10+ point advantage. The score margin stayed in the double-digits until another surge by MC brought the score to 66-61 with less than eight minutes left. SWC would score the next 11 points, pushing the score to 77-61 with just a few to play. After the Moundbuilders put in their reserves, McPherson bucketed four-straight three pointers but by that time there were just a few ticks left on the clock. The final score gave SWC a 89-80 victory.
Mac made 30-of-67 for the contest, converting on a season high 44.8% from the floor; they made 9-of-19 from deep and 11-of-16 from the stripe. SWC went 32-of-70 from the field and made 29.2 percent from three-point land; they were 18-of-29 from the free throw line. MC grabbed 44 rebounds in the game while Southwestern totaled 39; each squad had 11 offensive boards. 18 turnovers were totaled by McPherson; the Moundbuilders had 13. SWC tallied 41 points from their bench players.
Cramer led the ‘Dogs in scoring with her 14 on 5-of-10 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. Ali Brewster, Taylor Puttergill and Madison Chambers each put up 12 points; Brewster was 5-of-9 from the floor, Puttergill made 6-of-13 field goals and Chambers drained 4-of-9 from the floor and 3-of-3 from the stripe. Cheyenne Eisenhour scored 11 points by making 50% of her eight field goal attempts. Brewster was the team leader in assists with five, tied with Beth Cooper, while Chambers brought down a team-high eight rebounds.
After the Bulldogs are through with USM, they will take four days of rest before they travel to Friends University to face the Lady Falcons. That matchup will be on February 7th at 6:00 p.m. (CT); JV games will prelude the varsity.
Scouting Saint Mary
The Lady Spires are having a trying season as they have won just two conference games and eight competitions in total. They currently sit ninth in the KCAC with their 2-11 record; they’re 8-17 for the season. Following a non-conference win against Hillsdale Baptist College on Monday, USM lost at Sterling College 77-68 on Thursday.
Much like they’ve done all season, Saint Mary shot the ball very well from the floor, making 45.3% of their 53 attempts; they were 7-of-17 from deep and 13-of-17 from the free throw line. Sterling made 24-of-55 from the field but won the game from the stripe, draining 26-of-30 for an 86.7 percentage. The Spires edged the Warriors on the boards, pulling down 35 to SC’s 30. Turnovers were a big problem for USM as they threw the ball away 22 times.
Saint Mary was led in scoring by Jordan VanNess who bucketed 13 points on 4-of-10 from the floor and 2-of-2 from the free throw line. Shelby Watson scored 12, making 5-of-7 field goals and 2-of-2 from the stripe. Bench player Tracie Weege also made it over the 10-point hump with her 11 on 3-of-4 from distance and 2-of-3 from the foul line. Kendra Mattox pulled down a team-high six boards and scored seven points in the loss
The Lady Spires score an average of 62.2 points per outing while making 40.6% of their field goal attempts, second highest in the conference; they’ve drained 145 three balls this season and cash in on a KCAC second best 31.9 percent of their tries from deep. 37 rebounds are averaged by USM each game and they are holding their opponents to 36 a contest. A KCAC second-worst 19.2 turnovers are tallied on average by Saint Mary; they steal back nearly 10 a game and also log 2.5 blocks. Their 14.84 assists per game is the best in the league; they have 371 total dimes this season.
Watson is the season leader in scoring; she is totaling nearly nine points every time out, converting on 46.5 percent of her attempts. She also leads the squad in rebounds, pulling down 5.8 on average. Mattox is next on the scoring totem pole, draining 8.3 each time she hits the court. Adelyn Ezeh is tops of the team in steals and assists as she’s accumulated 39 and 80, respectively. Weege has a team-high and second best in the KCAC 43 three-point makes and is hitting her shots from downtown with 40% accuracy.
USM hits the road for their next competition as they travel to play Bethany College on February 7th.
