Women's Basketball | 2/8/2013 10:10:00 AM
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McPherson, Kan. – After a 72-50 defeat to Friends on Thursday, a difficult loss to swallow, the Lady Bulldogs must recover quickly as they take on Kansas Wesleyan University on Saturday the 9th. The Coyotes are one place ahead of Mac in the conference standings, making this a vital game for MC. The game is set to begin at 5:00 p.m. (CT) with junior varsity getting underway at 1:00 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
In the Bulldog loss to Friends, it took MC a while to get going on the offensive side of the court as they didn’t get over the 10-point hump until there was under six minutes left in the half. With Mac struggling to score, the Lady Falcons got up big and used that momentum to hold off McPherson when the balls began falling in. For a brief few seconds, the ‘Dogs pulled within single figures but on the next possession, Friends increased it right back to 10+; the Falcons headed off the court with a halftime lead of 37-20 on the shoulders of Inekka Stevenson who scored 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting in the first 20 minutes.
The second half didn’t go any better for McPherson as every basket they scored was quickly answered by Friends, not allowing the Lady Bulldogs to gain any traction. Some aggressive defensive pressure by the Falcons forced Mac out of their comfort zone and allowed Friends to jump ahead by over 20 points. MC never gave up, working all the way through the final buzzer but the horn went off with 72-50 showing on the score board in favor of the home team Friends Falcons.
The end of the contest left McPherson with their second worst shooting percentage of the season as just 16-of-54 shot attempts were counted for a 29.6 percentage; they converted on 5-of-24 from downtown and 13-of-16 from the charity stripe. The Lady Falcons made 25-of-65 for the game and were 9-of-32 from the three-point line; 13-of-20 free throws went through the hoop for Friends. The two teams tied in the rebounding category; Mac had 15 offensive boards while the Falcons grabbed 17. 27 of Friends’points were made from behind the arc and 23 came off of a MC turnover.
Bailey Brown, the KCAC leader in free throw percentage, made her way to the stripe late in the game to grab the Lady Bulldog top-scoring title with 15 points; she was 4-of-10 from the field, 3-of-8 from distance and 4-of-5 from the stripe. Tayler Puttergill recorded the game’s lone double-double as she scored 12 points (4-of-10 from the floor and 3-of-5 from the foul line) and 12 rebounds (nine defensive and three on the offensive end).
Another important game for KCAC seeding awaits the Lady Bulldogs next Thursday as they travel to Sterling, Kansas to face the SC Warriors. Tipoff for the Valentine’s Day, February 14th matchup is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. (CT); junior varsity will commence at 2:00 p.m.
Scouting Kansas Wesleyan
The 14-11, 9-6 Lady Coyotes are currently sitting fourth place in the KCAC standings, one spot ahead of McPherson; KWU has held their fourth place position throughout the entire second round of conference action. The ‘Yotes are 4-2 in their past six games with a home loss to Sterling College being their most recent competition.
It was a simple case of SC taking more shot attempts than Kansas Wesleyan as the Warriors hit on 24-of-69 from the field while KWU went 17-of-56. Sterling used their 21 offensive rebounds to help them gain more scoring opportunities. The Lady Coyotes did shoot more free throws, cashing in on 19-of-27; SC converted on 10-of-16 from the stripe. Kansas Wesleyan made one more three pointer as they nailed 4-of-19 giving them a poor percentage from deep, something that rarely happens on their home court. The Warriors tallied 50 total rebounds while Kansas Wesleyan pulled down 41. Each squad turned the ball over 17 times with SC stealing nine and the ‘Yotes taking away seven.
KWU had three players in double figures scoring and were led by Vanessa Kresin who bucketed 9-of-10 free throws and 2-of-10 field goals for her 13 points. Stephanie Frost scored 12 points on 5-of-11 from the floor and 2-of-4 from the stripe. McKenna Britton was the final Coyote to make it over the 10-point hump with her 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 from the foul line. Christian Cassity, Frost and Kresin each totaled a team-high six rebounds; Cassity and Frost also recorded five blocks a piece.
The Coyotes are scoring just over 66 points per contest while making 37.3% of their tries. 5.6 three pointers are tallied by KWU each time out; they hit 27 percent of their shots from downtown. 1025 rebounds have been hauled in by Kansas Wesleyan this season and they average 41 per contest, outrebounding their opponent on average. A KCAC worst 19.5 turnovers are logged each time the ‘Yotes hit the court, they also total right over 10 assists and steals a game. The team is the conference leader in blocks per game, tallying 4.7 an outing.
Alecia Smith is the leading scorer for the Lady Coyotes as she records an average of 14.3 points a contest, second in the league, making 40% of her field goals; she has hit a team-high 33 balls from downtown and 92 makes from the foul line while leading the team, and KCAC, in rebounds per game with 8.4. 11.6 points are totaled by Kresin each time she hits the court; she has played a team-high 817 minutes this season and leads the conference in steals per game with 3.1. Frost also averages over 10 points a contest and has a KCAC leading 42 blocks this year.
A trip to Lindsborg, Kansas awaits the Coyotes on February 14th as they face the Bethany College Swedes.
