Women's Basketball | 2/5/2013 10:03:00 AM
Game Notes
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McPherson, Kan. – With four games left in the regular season, the Lady Bulldogs sit fifth in the KCAC and will be looking to move up in the rankings over the next two weeks. MC travels to Wichita, Kansas to take on the Friends University Falcons, winners of 10-straight, on February 7th; game time is 6:00 p.m. (CT) with JV games starting at 2:00 p.m.
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
Mac is coming off a win against the USM Spires this past weekend, moving their record to 14-10 overall and 8-6 in the conference. In the contest versus Saint Mary, the Bulldogs made the first bucket of the game and didn’t relinquish their advantage for the next 39 minutes. MC started the game with an 8-0 run, not surrendering a point to USM for the first four minutes. McPherson stayed ahead by double-digits for the majority of the half, leading by as few as seven and as many as 15 which they did at halftime; a 35-20 score line was showing on the clock after the first 20 minutes.
Within the second period’s first 60 seconds, the Lady ‘Dogs increased their lead to 20 points; they stayed on top by that amount until four-straight baskets by Saint Mary pulled the score difference to 16 with 11 minutes left in the game. That was the closest the two teams got to each other for the rest of the contest as McPherson jumped back up by 20+. The final score was 73-54 in the favor of MC.
As they shot the same 41 percentage in both halves, Mac closed out the game hitting 41% of their field goals; they were 7-of-17 from distance and 14-of-19 from the stripe. USM ended the contest making 38.5 percent from the floor with only two three pointers being counted; they knocked in 12-of-17 from the foul line. The Bulldogs destroyed Saint Mary on the glass as they hauled in 45 boards compared to the Lady Spires’ 29. Each team struggled hanging on to the ball as MC had 20 turnovers and USM tallied 25; the Bulldogs stole away 15 balls while Saint Mary recorded 10 takeaways.
Cheyenne Eisenhour led the ‘Dogs in scoring and nearly had a near double-double; she scored 11 points on 4-of-7 from the floor and pulled down nine rebounds. Bailey Brown was second on the team with her 10 points; she was 2-of-9 from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. All of McPherson’s players who played over three minutes scored in the contest with 33 of the total coming from the bench. Madison Chambers also had nine rebounds in the game, tying her with Eisenhour to lead the squad. Ali Brewster racked up a team-high five assists to go along with her seven points and two rebounds.
The Lady Bulldogs will be at home for their next competition following the trip to Wichita. They face the Kansas Wesleyan Lady Coyotes on February 9th at 6:00 p.m. (CT) with junior varsity getting underway at 2:00 p.m. This contest has huge post-season implications as KWU is one game and one place ahead of Mac in the conference standings. It is also “Think Pink” night, so wear your pink attire to the matchup.
Scouting Friends
The Falcons are 18-7 this season and 12-2 in the KCAC, putting them second in the conference. The team’s last loss came back in 2012 as they’ve put together 10-straight wins over the last month. They are perfect in their second go-around through the conference with their most recent victory coming against the Sterling College Lady Warriors 54-47 on Saturday.
It was an ugly shooting game between Friends and SC as the Lady Falcons led in field goal percentage with only making 31% of their attempts. Friends was 18-of-58 from the floor and 1-of-16 from distance but did hit 81 percent of their 21 free throws. Sterling converted on an abysmal 25.4 percent from the field, counting just 15-of-59 field goals; they also hit just one three-ball and closed out the game knocking in 16-of-28 from the stripe. With all those missed shots, rebounds were abundant and the Warriors cleaned them up nicely as they grabbed 50 total rebounds, 18 off the offensive glass; Friends pulled down 38 boards.
Inekka Stevenson topped the scoring list for the Falcons, making 5-of-11 from the field and 4-of-4 from the foul line for her 14 points. Friends’ leading scorer for the season, Abril Marshall, tallied 12 points in the victory coming off of 5-of-14 from the floor and 2-of-4 from the charity stripe; she also snatched eight rebounds to lead the squad. Whitney Bates was the next closest Friends player to make it to double figures with her eight points; she tallied six rebounds as well.
Friends scores just over 60 points per game but are holding their opponent to a league-low 55.6. The Falcons are making 40% from the field and 27.9 from downtown; they do a nice job holding their foes to a low 34.3 field goal percentage, tops of the conference. 34 rebounds per game are tallied by Friends and they typically hold the other team to fewer than what they haul in. 18 turnovers are given up by the Lady Falcons each time out but they are able to steal back over 10; they also average 12.8 assists per contest.
Marshall, who comes off the bench each game, is averaging 12.9 points an outing, topping the team and putting her fourth in the KCAC; she’s made a team-high 102 field goals and buckets 52.8% of her shots. Stevenson is next on the squad in scoring, making 8.7 a game. Sarah Munds is the Falcons’ leading three-point shooter as she’s hit 31 this season; her 8.6 points per game average is third on the team. Tina Fakahafua is the top rebounder for Friends as she pulls down 5.6 each contest.
Friends stays at home for their next competition as they host the Bethany College Swedes on February 9th.
