Women's Basketball | 2/16/2013 11:32:00 PM
Box Score
McPherson, Kan. – In a game that meant nothing for seeding in the upcoming conference tournament, the McPherson women’s basketball team came out flat, losing their final home game of the 2012-13 season 79-57 to Bethel College, sliding in to the postseason on a four-game skid.
Bethel came out and scored the first two points of the game and didn’t give up their advantage for the rest of the contest. Mac recorded one tie in the 40-minute competition, coming under three minutes into the opening period. BC’s lead stayed under 10 points for the entire first half with the largest score difference being eight. McPherson struggled from the field and scored just enough from the foul line to keep the Threshers within reach. As the halftime buzzer sounded, following a layup by Bethel, MC trailed 34-27.
The Lady Bulldogs were happy to get to the locker room as they needed to regroup after making only 27.6 percent of their field goals; 8-of-29 from the floor made their way through for MC with 1-of-12 of those being three point attempts. Free throws kept Mac in things as they found their way to the foul line 14 times, hitting 10. BC went 13-of-31from the field with two three balls; they converted on 6-of-7 from the charity stripe. The Lady Threshers were all over the glass, pulling down 27 rebounds as they gobbled up McPherson’s misses.
Mac got within a bucket less than three minutes into the second half but five-straight baskets by Bethel put the Threshers ahead by 14 with 13:09 showing on the scoreboard. BC’s lead stayed in the double figures for all but 20 seconds of the rest of the game. The deficit for McPherson was in the teens up until there was four minutes left when Bethel put a few points together to push it to 20. The clock winded out with the final being 79-57 in favor of the Lady Threshers.
Another 20 minutes gone by and another 8-of-29 showing from the floor for MC as the second half did not fare any better for the ‘Dogs; they made 2-of-8 from deep and saw 12-of-20 fall through the hoop from the stripe. Bethel drained about 20% better from the floor than their season average as they cashed in on 14-of-26; 3-of-8 went in from downtown and 14-of-20 from the foul line.
After having two consecutive 8-of-29 halves, the Lady Bulldogs ended the contest with a 27.6 field goal percentage; they made 22-of-34 from the stripe and saw 3-of-20 fall through from deep. Two solid periods of shooting gave BC a 27-of-57 night; they nailed 5-of-20 from behind the arc and 20-of-27 from the free throw line. BC closed out the game with 42 rebounds, grabbing 12 on the offensive end; Mac totaled 31 with eight offensive boards. Bethel turned the ball over 23 times with McPherson getting 12 steals; the Threshers dished out 17 assists in their win while MC had 13. 35 of the Lady Bulldogs’ points came from their bench players.
Tayler Puttergill (Tryon, Neb.) was the lone Mac player to make it over the 10-point hump with her 11 points; she made 3-of-14 from the floor and 4-of-6 from the stripe. Puttergill also pulled down seven rebounds to lead the team.
Cami Engelbert (Beloit, Kan.) entered the game from the bench and scored nine, putting her second on the team in scoring.
Madison Chambers (Wellsville, Kan.) was the Bulldog leader in assists with four; she also had five rebounds and three points.
Lauren Ulrich improved on her team-leading, season average with a 6-of-14 from the field and 9-of-10 from the foul line night; along with her 22 points, she led the team in assists with eight. Katie Regier bucketed 16 points and also had a career-high 20 rebounds with six coming on the offensive end. Jessica Ebenkamp was able to make it over 10 points with her 12; she was 5-of-6 from the floor with two free throws.
14-14 McPherson will now travel to 20-7 Southwestern College as the No. 6 seed in the upcoming KCAC Postseason Tournament. The No. 3 Moundbuilders will host Mac on February 21
st at 7:00 p.m. (CT) in Winfield, Kansas with the winner taking on the Tabor College vs. Ottawa University victor on Saturday.
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