Women's Basketball | 2/9/2013 11:26:00 PM
Box Score
McPherson, Kan. – After getting down by as many as 17, the Lady Bulldogs couldn’t overcome the deficit and dropped a tough home contest to Kansas Wesleyan University on Saturday night 54-48. Mac is now 14-12 this season with a .500 KCAC record of 8-8.
For the second straight game, the Lady Bulldogs had a difficulty scoring in the opening period as their second basket of the contest came with 13:19 showing on the clock, letting KWU build up a 13-point lead. A 9-5 run by MC got the score back to a single-digit margin. The score hovered around 10 points for the next few minutes until the ‘Yotes increased their advantage to the upper teens, with their largest lead being 17 points which came right before halftime. Kansas Wesleyan found themselves heading into their locker room with a 32-16 lead.
Mac had a very difficult time putting the ball through the hoop in the first 20 minutes as only 4-of-25 attempts from the field were counted; they hit just 1-of-8 from deep and were 7-of-13 from the charity stripe. KWU bucketed 11 baskets on 28 attempts with three makes from downtown; they also hit on 7-of-13 from the foul line. 20 of the Lady Coyotes’ points came in the paint, 13 were off a turnover and 12 were tallied from bench players. Kansas Wesleyan totaled nine steals in the first period.
The second half began with KWU pushing their lead to 17 but a 9-2 run by the Lady ‘Dogs got MC to a 10-point deficit with less than five minutes gone by in the period. McPherson continued the charge and got the score to 38-35 in favor of KWU with 11:35 showing on the clock. The score margin stayed within a handful for the next five minutes but after MC got within one-point, the Coyotes scored 11-straight points, going up 51-39 with under five minutes to play. The Lady Bulldogs made another surge and got their deficit to five but that would be as close as they came. Kansas Wesleyan made just enough from the free throw line late in the game to keep Mac at arm’s length, taking the low scoring, 54-48 victory.
The Bulldogs over-doubled their shooting percentage in the second period, making 12-of-34 with two balls from deep finding the bottom of the net; the team continued to struggle from the stripe, converting on 6-of-10. KWU had their fair share of missed opportunities as they drained just 25.9% of their 27 field goals; they also had difficulties making shots from the foul line, bucketing 7-of-12. After scoring six points in paint in the game’s first 20 minutes, MC scored 17 in the second.
A poor 27.1 percent of Mac’s field goals went through the basket for the game; they cashed in on 16-of-59 from the floor, 3-of-21 from distance and 13-of-23 from the free throw line. Kansas Wesleyan closed out the game hitting 32.7% from the field and rattled in 14-of-25 from the charity stripe. Each team hauled in their share of rebounds, KWU totaled 47 while McPherson grabbed 45. The Bulldogs recorded 16 turnovers and Kansas Wesleyan had 19; the Lady ‘Yotes ended with 12 steals, MC logged six.
Bailey Brown (Glen Elder, Kan.) was the lone McPherson player to make it over the 10-point hump as she scored 13 with 8-of-12 free throws falling through and 2-of-7 field goals.
Tayler Puttergill (Tryon, Neb.) was one point away from another double-double as she scored nine points and had 10 boards, three on the offensive end.
16 points were scored by point guard Jessica Olson to lead the Coyotes; she was 6-of-10 from the floor and 2-of-2 from the foul line. No other KWU player scored over 10 points on Saturday but McKenna Britton totaled 10 rebounds in the win.
A trip to Sterling College is next on the docket for McPherson. A win against the Lady Warriors would lock up the fifth seed in the upcoming conference tournament. Tipoff for the February 14
th, Valentine’s Day game is set for 6:00 p.m. (CT)
Make sure to follow Bulldog Nation on
Facebook (MCathletics) and
Twitter (@MAC_Bulldogs)
