McPHERSON, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) --- The McPherson College women's basketball team opened its 2016-2017 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) schedule with a 71-63 win over rival Bethany College on Thursday night at the McPherson Sport Center.
The Bulldogs (5-1, 1-0 KCAC) sprinted out to a 10-2 lead four minutes in and led 17-9 after one quarter after holding the Swedes (0-5, 0-1 KCAC) to just 1-of-13 shooting from the field. Bethany was able to keep McPherson from running away with the contest by converting seven of 10 chances at the free throw line.
McPherson used an 11-5 run to build the lead to 14 points (28-14) midway through the second quarter. The Swedes responded with 21 of the next 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 12 from Samm Ashida, to take a 35-31 lead with 49 seconds remaining in the first half. McPherson was 0-of-5 from the field, turned the ball over twice, managed just one rebound and were limited to just three free throws - two from
Maressah Milum (Douglas, Kan., Independence CC)Â and a third from
Kristina Battle (Houston, Texas, Austin HS) - during the stretch. Battle added two more free throws with 16 seconds left on the clock to draw back within two. The Bulldogs were held without a field goal for five minutes, 24 seconds before a jumper by
Brooke Racette (Hutchinson, Kan., Trinity Catholic HS)Â with eight seconds left sent the teams to locker rooms tied at 35.
After a scoreless first two minutes to the second half, Bethany grabbed the lead on a 3-pointer by Ciera Wong. McPherson responded with a 14-4 run, erasing the deficit and taking a seven-point lead.
Brooklyn Coe (Corvallis, Ore., Chemeketa CC) accounted for eight points during the run, while
Cami Richardson (Hesston, Kan., Hesston HS) added four and Battle two. The Swedes scored the final five points of the quarter as Tehya Peters hit a runner and Ashida drained a three as time expired to cut the Bulldog lead to 49-47 headed to the final quarter.
Peters opened the fourth quarter with another layup to tie the score at 49, but Bethany was never able to retake the lead. A 13-3 run capped by a 3-pointer by Racette gave McPherson a 62-52 lead with 5:07 to play. The Swedes were able to cut the lead to five points on a handful of occasions, but the Bulldogs maintained the lead down the stretch by converting at the free-throw line. McPherson was 9-of-15 at the charity stripe in the fourth quarter alone to match Bethany's 7-of-11 effort.
Three Bulldogs finished in double figures, led by 18 points from Coe. She was just 4-of-10 from the field but earned her points at the line, going 10-of-14. Coe also had three bouards, an assist, a block and a game-high four steals. Richardson finished with a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double and also had a team-high three assists and a pair of blocks despite missing large chunks of time due to foul trouble. Battle had a relatively quite 12 points, four boards, three steals and two blocks, while
Isabella Bacon (Sapulpa, Okla., Sapulpa HS) added eight points and Racette seven off the bench.
Ashida led Bethany with 17 points, despite shooting just 5-of-19 from the field and 4-of-14 from 3-point range. She added four rebounds, three assists and a steal. Peters also had the green light, but was only 5-of-21 from the field for 12 points. She did have five rebounds and matched Coe with a game-high four steals. Kimi Lindshield narrowly missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds.
McPherson held a 34-20 edge in points in the paint and a 23-10 advantage in bench points, while Bethany had a dominating 23-9 edge in second-chance points. The Swedes outrebounded the Bulldogs, 41-39, overall, including 18-9 on the offensive glass.
The Bulldogs are idle Friday before stepping back into KCAC action Saturday evening with another rivalry matchup - this time in Salina against Kansas Wesleyan. Tip off is slated for 5 p.m. at Mabee Arena.
