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McPherson, Kan. – Saturday will bring about the first game at home since mid-December for the McPherson College women's basketball squad. The Bulldogs host Ottawa University at 5:00 p.m. (CT) on the 10th.
MC is currently in a six-game losing streak with four of those games being against conference opponents. In their most recent defeat, the Lady 'Dogs got behind the eight-ball right off the bat as Sterling jumped out to a quick advantage. Mac kept it close but were never able to take the lead. The halftime score sat at 44-31. McPherson went 11-of-29 in the first half with three of their 10 threes going in. SC bucketed 17-of-39 field goals and accrued 29 total rebounds, 12 offensive.
The Lady Warriors were red-hot to start the second half as they put in five of their first six shots to push the lead to 24. MC got as close as 16 but never were able to get it back to single figures. Sterling took the game 91-64. Mac scored on 10-of-27 from the floor with a pair from distance while SC counted 19-of-41 field goals; the Warriors racked up another 33 rebounds with 14 coming off the offensive glass.
McPherson ended the game making 37.5% (21-of-56) from the floor and counted 5-of-19 threes; they were 17-of-27 from the foul line, 63%. A mere 29 rebounds were gathered by MC with only four coming off the offensive glass. The team also netted 17 turnovers, six assists, five steals, and three blocks. 28 points were scored in the paint for Mac and 27 of their total came from bench players.
Both Bailey Brown and Zatorian Abra scored 15 points for the Lady Bulldogs. Brown dropped in just 4-of-15 from the floor but converted on 7-of-9 free throws; she also had five rebounds. Abra went 6-of-8 from the field and 2-of-4 from the stripe. Sunny Smart was able to get her shot going as the junior went 3-of-9 from deep, 1-of-1 from two, and 1-of-3 from the foul line for 12 points.
McPherson in the Rankings: Sunny Smart sits at 15th in the NAIA D-II in three-point field goals made with 42. Bailey Brown is 23rd in scoring with 282 points.
The 'Dogs will host Southwestern on January 15th at 6:00 p.m. for their next outing.
Scouting Ottawa
The Lady Braves are currently 7-8 on the year and 3-2 in the KCAC. Since coming back from the break, the team has gone 1-1, losing 78-52 to NAIA D-I Central Methodist University and defeating the University of Saint Mary 81-66 this past Thursday.
In Thursday night's contest, the two teams traded baskets throughout the first half with Ottawa staying slightly ahead of the Lady Spires. At the break, OU was on top 32-28. A good portion of the Braves' scoring came from the foul line as the team went 10-of-11; they were 10-of-28 from the rest of the floor. Saint Mary scored on 11-of-28 from the field with 5-of-11 three balls dropping.
The second half started much like the first but then a quick 10-0 run by Ottawa put the Braves up 18 midway through the period. USM couldn't get the score margin back to single figures; they pulled their deficit to 10 a couple times but never cracked the double-digits. OU went on to win 81-66. The Lady Braves counted 13-of-31 field goals and a whopping 20-of-29 from the foul stripe. USM connected on 14-of-27 field goals and 4-of-8 threes.
Ottawa went 23-of-59 from the floor for the game and made 5-of-18 from distance; an incredible 30-of-40 free throws were counted. The team pulled down 41 rebounds with 16 coming off the offensive glass. 16 assists, eight turnovers, eight steals, and four blocks were logged by the Lady Braves.
Mikayla Skidmore led OU in scoring with her 20 points; the guard made 6-of-13 field goals and 7-of-11 free throws. She also had a team-high seven assists and a pair of steals. Chelsea Hodison tabbed 15 points for the Braves as she hit on 5-of-7 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the stripe; she also grabbed seven rebounds. Madi Stewart put up 14 points with 10 coming from the foul line where she knocked in 10-of-10; the sophomore led the team in rebounds with eight. The final player to hit double-digits was Hannah Thomas who had 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting with 3-of-4 free throws.
This year Ottawa puts up 64.9 points a night but has a negative scoring margin of 5.9. They make 37.5% of their field goals with 32.2% going down from distance; the team has a 75.6 free throw percentage on the year. OU is rebounding 35.7 boards a night to go along with 17.1 turnovers, 12.5 assists, 6.9 steals, and 2.7 blocks.
Individually, the Braves are led in scoring by Stewart as she averages 12.1 points; she has made a team-high 57 field goals with 22 coming from range. Ashley Romig is second on the team at 11.6 per game; she tops the team in rebounds with a 7.3 average. Skidmore has played in a team-high 429 total minutes, 28.1 a game, and scores 11.3 a contest; she has amassed a team-high 63 assists. Thomas is close to a double-digit average with her 9.6 points a night.
A home contest with the Bethel Threshers is next for Ottawa.
