Salina, Kan. – The McPherson College women's basketball team had a hard time slowing down the Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes on Thursday as the home team took the game 89-71.
Much like they did in their most recent game, KWU came out on fire and took control of the game early; the Coyotes went 10-of-18 in the opening quarter with 7-of-14 from behind the arc. Trailing 30-10, McPherson started scoring in the second but Kansas Wesleyan stayed out in front and headed into halftime up 51-22. McPherson had a rough time shooting the ball as they made 9-of-23 from the field and 0-of-3 from behind the three-point line; they converted just four of their ten free throws. KWU scored on 18-of-30 field goals with an impressive 12-of-22 from deep; they netted all three of their tries from the charity stripe.
In the second half, MC played much better and traded baskets with the Coyotes. The Bulldogs won the third quarter but only by one point, 25-24; the score set at 75-47 with one quarter to go. McPherson took the fourth, 24-14, playing against a lot of Kansas Wesleyan's bench. After the 40 minutes contest, the 'Dogs were on the low end of an 89-71 score line. Mac shot well in the second half, cashing in on 15-of-24 field goals with 2-of-5 from behind the arc; the team made 17-of-23 from the stripe. The Coyotes hit 14-of-26 from the floor including 5-of-11 three balls; they went 5-of-8 from the free throw line.
McPherson ended the game with a 51.1 field goal percentage, 24-of-47, but was just 2-of-8 from behind the arc; the team shot 33 free throws but hit just 21 for a 63.6 percentage. The 'Dogs pulled down 28 rebounds with eight offensive boards; they also logged 20 turnovers, six steals, five steals, and four blocks. MC totaled 42 of their points in the paint.
Bailey Brown tallied a team-high 19 points, making 5-of-10 field goals and 9-of-13 free throws. Ashton Bruner scored 16 points on 7-of-13 from the floor and 2-of-4 from the stripe; she also had four rebounds. Georgia Smart made it into double figures with her 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting along with 3-of-6 free throws; the forward led the team in rebounds with seven.
The Bulldogs will host Friends University on Saturday for their next contest; the JV game is set for a 1:00 p.m. (CT) start with varsity slated for 5:00.
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McPherson College is a Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference member school and a part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
