North Newton, Kan. – For only the third time in the past 10 years, the MC women's basketball team has started the KCAC season with two wins; the Bulldogs moved to 3-4 on the year after their 68-58 victory over Bethel College on Saturday.
McPherson started the game in front and ended the low-scoring first period with a 16-12 lead; both teams shot in the 20% range for the quarter. In the second, the Bulldogs maintained their advantage and even increased it to nine points which is where it sat as the halftime buzzer sounded, 32-23. Mac shot in 8-of-28 field goals in the first half but made their living at the foul stripe as 14-of-19 free throws were counted. Bethel also made eight shots from the floor but only hit 50% of their 14 tries from the stripe.
The third quarter was up and down for both squads. The Threshers charged out of the gate and brought their deficit back to five but then a run by MC put their lead back at double figures. Bethel made another push late in the period and got the score to 47-43 by the end of the third.
A couple of quick buckets by BC in the fourth quarter got the score margin to one point. McPherson quickly surged forward on the back of senior forward Ashton Bruner and got ahead by seven just a couple minutes later. A mini-run by Bethel tied the game up at 53-53 with less than five minutes remaining. The foul-heavy contest continued late in the quarter and Mac took advantage, hitting their free throws to help secure the 68-58 win; the Bulldogs scored their final 12 points off of free throws. MC made another eight field goals in the second half, going 8-of-25 from the floor with just 2-of-8 threes finding their way through; again, free throws were everything for Mac as they scored on 18-of-27. Bethel connected on 12-of-26 field goals with 2-of-6 from distance; they continued to struggle from the stripe, making a mere 9-of-18.
McPherson ended the game shooting just 30.2 percent from the field, 16-of-53; they had issues hitting from behind the arc, 4-of-17. The team's free throw percentage was okay, but not as good as it could have been as they shot 66.7% from the line, making 32-of-46; the 46 attempts are the second highest total in MC history, the makes are third. The Bulldogs had a great night rebounding, pulling in 52 total with 15 coming on the offensive end of the floor. They also logged 19 turnovers and a stellar 15 steals to go along with seven assists and one block.
Bailey Brown only made 3-of-11 field goals but went 16-of-18 from the foul line for a game-high 22 points; she also led the team in rebounds with eight. Bruner was the only other player to hit double-digits in scoring with her 10 points in just 23 minutes of playing time; the McPherson native went 3-of-5 from the floor and a perfect 4-of-4 from the stripe. Sunny Smart made 3-of-6 threes for her nine points. Reagan McClellan only scored seven points but dished out five assists from her point guard position. Tabbing eight boards and eight points was Amanda Allen; she had three offensive rebounds in the game.
McPherson will host Ottawa University on November 24th at 6:00 p.m. (CT) for their first home conference game of the year.
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McPherson College is a Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference member school and a part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
