Denver, Colo. – McPherson College women's basketball is still in search of their first win of the 2014-15 season as for the second-straight game they lost a tight contest. Mac dropped a 59-54 outing to Johnson & Wales University in the J&W Classic.
The Bulldogs again had trouble scoring early but were fortunate that Johnson & Wales also struggled to get a bucket in the opening half. Once shots began to fall, Mac led 8-2 but the Wildcats fought back and pulled even a few minutes later. The 'Dogs again surged forward and held a five-point advantage with less than five to play in the half. J&W outscored MC 9-4 in the final minutes to end the period all square at 20-20.
The first 20 minutes was anything but a shootout as just 13 field goals were made between the two teams. Mac was 6-of-25 from the floor and 0-of-9 from deep; the team hit on 8-of-11 from the charity stripe. Johnson & Wales went 7-of-35 with five being from distance; they were just 1-of-3 from the foul line.
In the second half the two teams traded baskets and neither was able to break away. The Wildcats got up by as many as nine midway through the period but McPherson tied it up again at 54-54 with 3:18 showing on the clock. Only one more field goal and three free throws were scored the rest of the way and they were all by Johnson & Wales, giving them the 59-54 win; MC's last field goal came with 4:42 left in the game.
McPherson went 10-of-33 in the second half but again had struggles from deep as they made just 2-of-9; the 'Dogs stayed sharp at the stripe as 12-of-15 fell through. J&W scored on 10-of-34 from the field including 4-of-16 from behind the arc; the Wildcats rectified their first half issues at the free throw line as they made 15-of-16.
Mac made a poor 16-of-58 field goals with an ugly 2-of-18 from downtown finding their way through the net; they were 20-of-26 from the line. With all the misses by both teams rebounds were all over the place and McPherson tallied 50 total boards; they also had 24 turnovers, 10 steals, and 7 assists. The Bulldogs scored 15 of their total off of turnovers and just 11 points were scored by bench players.
Bailey Brown had a big day at the charity stripe as she made 10-of-12 for 10 of her 18 points; the junior was 4-of-14 from the floor and also had nine rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Sunny Smart continued her double-digit run as she scored 11 on 2-of-8 from the field and 6-of-7 from the line; she recorded six defensive rebounds to go with her two steals and two assists.
MC plays their first game close to home as they take on Central Christian College on November 12th; the game will start at 6:00 p.m. (CT) at Central's gym on the south side of McPherson.
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McPherson College is a Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference member school and a part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
