McPHERSON, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) --- The McPherson College women's basketball team led early in the fourth quarter, but could not hold on as No. 24 Friends University pulled away for a 77-65 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) win Saturday night at the Sport Center.
Friends (9-2, 7-0 KCAC) scored the first seven points of the game behind a pair of Shann Sellers buckets and a Lexi Evans 3-pointer en route to 14-4 lead with 3:33 to play in the first quarter. McPherson (7-5, 3-4 KCAC) responded with six straight points on a layup by
Maressah Milum (Douglas, Kan., Independence CC) and four free throws by
Cami Richardson (Hesston, Kan., Hesston HS) to cut the Falcons' advantage to four but the visitors closed the quarter with six points of their own to lead 20-10 after one period.
Milum opened the second quarter with a putback bucket but Friends responded with a Sellers jumper and a three by Makenzie Vining to extend the lead to 13 points. McPherson countered with a 7-1 run fueled by five points from
Kristina Battle (Houston, Texas, Austin HS) to cut the deficit to seven with 5:55 remaining in the half. The run would be short-lived, though, as the Falcons used an 11-2 run capped by back-to-back 3-pointers by Evans to take a 37-21 lead.
Isabella Bacon (Sapulpa, Okla., Sapulpa HS) hit three 3-pointers down the stretch as part of a 9-2 McPherson run to cut the lead single digits with 43 seconds remaining only to see Evans drain another shot from behind the arc in the waning seconds of the half to give Friends a 42-30 halftime lead.
The Bulldogs opened the second half with a 16-4 run fueled by eight points from Battle and capped by back-to-back buckets on quick outlet plays by Milum to tie the score at 46-46 with 4:11 to play. Yowanna Posey gave the Falcons the lead back with a second-chance bucket on the next Friends possession.
After nearly two minutes elapsed without a score for either team, Bacon cut the lead in half by making the first of two free throws. She missed the second, but was able to assist on a Milum bucket on McPherson's next trip down the floor as the Bulldogs regained the lead. Sellers scored on consecutive possessions to put the Falcons up three as time ticked down, but
Brooke Racette (Hutchinson, Kan., Trinity Catholic HS) drained a three at the buzzer to send the game to the fourth quarter tied at 52.
The teams traded the lead back and forth to start the final quarter as both team drained a pair of threes. A Richardson free throw gave McPherson a 59-58 lead with 7:25 to play, but Posey hit a layup followed by two by Sellers to quickly turn a one-point deficit into a five-point lead for Friends.
The Falcons closed the game on a 19-6 run, using free throws down the stretch to put the result out of reach.
Friends shot 46.2 percent (30-of-65) from the field and 39.1 percent (9-of-23) from 3-point range, while McPherson shot 43.1 percent (22-of-51) overall and 38.1 percent (8-of-21) from behind the arc. Each team pulled down 36 rebounds, but the Falcons forced 24 turnovers and racked up 15 steals compared to 15 and three for the Bulldogs.
Sellers led four Friends players in double figures with a game-high 22 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field. She also dished out six assists and had five rebounds, five steals and blocked one shot. Vining added 16 points and five rebounds, while Evans and Posey scored 15 points each. Posey also had eight rebounds, six steals and two assists.
McPherson also had four players in double figures, led by Milum with 14 points and five rebounds off the bench. Bacon and Battle added 13 points each, while Richardson registered another double-double with 12 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and a block.
The Bulldogs close out the 2016 portion of their KCAC slate Tuesday night with a game in Leavenworth against the University of Saint Mary (4-9, 3-4 KCAC). Tip off is slated for 5 p.m.
