Women's Basketball | 1/7/2014 11:05:00 AM
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McPherson, Kan. – Following a disappointing two-loss showing at their home classic this past weekend, the Lady Bulldog basketball squad is looking to bounce back as they play their first conference game since mid-December. Mac will square off with a red-hot Tabor College squad on January 9
th in Hillsboro, Kansas; tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. (CT)
The MC Classic started with McPherson playing Dakota State University on Friday. After trailing for the first few minutes, the Lady 'Dogs put together 11 straight to go up eight with just under 12 to play in the half. With a bucket in the final 20 seconds, the Trojans took the lead at 29-28 which is where is stayed through halftime. Mac shot just over 30% in the period (11-of-30) and made five of their eight free throws. DSU connected on 11-of-27 with five from deep; they also hit 50% of their four foul shots.
The Lady T's came out of the locker room and quickly pushed their lead to double-digits. It took them until the 10-minute mark but the Bulldogs tied things up at 44-44. After going back-and-forth, Dakota State was up by one with just over two minutes to play. After missed shots and turnovers by both teams, Mac's Bailey Brown scored to put the 'Dogs ahead one with 22 seconds left. Following a timeout, DSU came down and nearly threw the ball away but a last-second fling found its way through with no time remaining, giving them a 54-53 victory. McPherson made a mere 8-of-30 with a couple from deep and 7-of-10 from the stripe going down. Dakota State scored on 10-of-30 but were just 2-of-14 from range; they connected on 3-of-4 from the foul line.
After the 40-minute contest, MC saw 19-of-60 field goals go through the net including a 3-of-12 showing from downtown; they posted a 12-of-18 mark from the stripe. Mac outrebounded Dakota State 44-39 and hauled in 17 offensive boards. They tallied 15 turnovers to go along with 12 assists and 11 steals. 36 points were counted in the paint for McPherson in their loss.
Aubrey Barton was the lone Bulldog to hit double-digits scoring; she went 5-of-17 from the floor with all five of her free throws falling and also netted three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Callie Atkins gave Mac a spark off the bench, hitting 3-of-3 from beyond the arc and ended the game with nine. Bailey Brown was next on the list, scoring eight on 2-of-5 from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 from the line.
In game number two for MC, they faced Haskell Indian Nations University for the second time this season; the Bulldogs won the first meeting 59-58 in Lawrence. The shooting woes for McPherson trickled over from the day before as they couldn't hit a basket, letting the three-point shooting Indians take a 27-21 lead into the locker room. Mac went 8-of-28 with three from downtown; 2-of-4 foul shots also fell for the 'Dogs. Haskell scored 18 of their 27 from behind the arc and three more from the charity stripe in the opening half.
HINU quickly got ahead by double figures to start the second period. McPherson would get as close as five but never were able to get the lead back, losing a very low-scoring 48-42 contest. The Lady Bulldogs only attempted 16 shots in the second half, making five which included a pair of threes; they converted on 9-of-16 from the stripe. Haskell Indian Nations knocked in 9-of-28 with two three balls and just one free throw going through.
McPherson made 13-of-44 enroute to their second lowest score total of the season; 5-of-13 three point baskets were bucketed as were 11-of-20 free throws. The team pulled down 34 rebounds, four less than the Indians. 20 turnovers and nine assists along with eight steals were tabulated by Mac. Exactly half of the Bulldogs' points were scored by bench players.
Not a single player for MC hit the double-digit mark in either points or rebounds. The squad was led by Bre Gillespie and Chandler Short in schoring, both of which had nine; each player hit three field goals with Gillespie making a pair of threes and Short hitting one. Bailey Brown topped the squad in both rebounds and assists with seven and four, respectively.
The second KCAC contest of the season for Mac will be at home against the Kansas Wesleyan Lady Coyotes on January 11th at 5:00 p.m. in the Sport Center of McPherson College.
Scouting Tabor
The 8-6 Lady Blue Jay squad is one of the hottest in the conference as of late; they've won five-straight games and seven of their last eight with the lone loss coming to KCAC opponent Kansas Wesleyan back in early December. In the pair of games they played over the break, Tabor took out a couple of Heart of America schools in Missouri Valley College and Baker University; both contests were decided by a bucket as they defeated MVC 66-64 and BU 79-76.
In their contest with the Wildcats of Baker, it was a tight battle for most of the first half until a 16-5 run by the Lady Jays to close out the period put TC ahead 38-27. After halftime, Baker began chipping away at their deficit and tied things up by the midway point of the half. The two teams went back-and-forth for the rest of the way with Tabor edging out BU 79-76. The Blue Jays made 23-of-50 from the floor in the game with 11-of-20 three-point baskets going in; they scored on 22-of-34 from the charity stripe. Baker knocked down 44.3% of their 70 shot attempts (31-of-70), counting 9-of-22 from range; they only took eight free throw shots and made five.
Nikki Lewis led all scoring with 17 on her 4-of-11 night with 6-of-10 foul shots; she also netted six assists and five rebounds. With her 16 points, Janelle Rust finished second on the team as five of her seven field goals went in including three from deep and three from the stripe. Tonisha Dean scored 14 points on 4-of-11 shooting with four free throws. Rounding out the double-digit scorers for Tabor was Kaleigh Troxell who bucketed 10, making 4-of-6 from the floor and 1-of-2 from the charity stripe.
Tabor is making over 40% of their field goals this season and average 71 points an outing with a positive scoring margin of 2.6. They have made 102 three-point baskets thus far, making over seven a contest while connecting on 31.4% of their attempts. The Jays average 35.7 rebounds each time they hit the court but have been outrebounded in most of their contests. They net 13.4 assists, 16.2 turnovers, 7.9 steals and less than one block a game.
Three TC players are averaging over 10 points a game. Leading the way is Dean who tabs 12.7; she has made a team leading 46 free throws and has started each game this season. Rust is narrowly behind Dean as she totals 12.6 and has a team-high 60 made field goals on the year; she is the squad's leading rebounder with 5.1 an outing and has also started every contest. Lewis has played a team most 433 minutes as she buckets 11.2 points per game; she's made 26 from behind the arc and has a team-high 87 assists for the season.
A trip up to Ottawa is next on the docket for the Blue Jays; they travel to the Braves on January 11th.
