Winfield, Kan. – It was a loud environment on Wednesday night as the Lady Bulldogs traveled to Southwestern College for their KCAC quarterfinal contest. After a tough fought battle, the home team Moundbuilders walked away with the win 74-64.
McPherson jumped out to a quick advantage, starting the game on an 11-4 run but the Builders fought back and pulled the first quarter score to 16-14 in favor of the 'Dogs. In the second, Mac again started the period strong and pushed their lead to 11 just a few minutes in; a 12-3 run by SWC tied the game up at 30-30 with just over a minute to play. The Bulldogs hit a bucket in the closing seconds to take a 32-31 advantage into the locker room. MC went 12-of-33 from the floor with 3-of-15 three balls falling in; they made 5-of-8 from the line. The Moundbuilders shot in 10-of-23 but also struggled from deep, dropping in just 1-of-5; they converted on 10-of-12 free throws. McPherson's Ashton Bruner scored 21 points in the first half and had four rebounds.
After a back-and-forth first few minutes, the Lady Builders took control and held a small lead throughout the period; they led 56-48 with one quarter to play. Mac got down by double figures early in the fourth but pulled in close a few possessions later; they were able to get within a couple buckets but never tied things up again. Southwestern answered MC's points in the final minutes which prohibited the Bulldogs from climbing back in. When the final buzzer sounded, the Moundbuilders took the game 74-64. McPherson shot in 10-of-32 from the floor but just couldn't seem to get their threes to fall, connecting on 2-of-15; they were 10-of-12 at the stripe. SWC cashed in on 16-of-30 field goals with 2-of-8 coming from range; the team went 9-of-10 in the half.
The Bulldogs closed out the game with a 33.8 field goal percentage, 22-of-65; they made just 5-of-30 from behind the arc and 15 of their 20 free throws. Mac controlled the glass on both ends of the court, pulling in 42 total and 17 offensive rebounds; they also had 12 turnovers, five assists, and four steals. 45 points were scored in the paint for Mac, 18 were second-chance points, and 15 came off of turnovers.
Bruner tallied a career-high 28 points on 11-of-22 shooting with 5-of-6 free throws falling in; she had eight rebounds in her final game for the 'Dogs. Bailey Brown hit the 1500-point mark on Wednesday after scoring 11 points on 3-of-8 field goals and a perfect 4-of-4 free throws; the senior finished her career in second on the all-time scoring list for Mac. Kristina Battle also scored in the double-digits with her 3-of-8 shooting from the floor and 3-of-6 from the line.
McPherson is now done for the year and they will lose some valuable pieces from the 2015-16 squad. The coaching staff will look to add some depth to replace their six seniors.
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McPherson College is a Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference member school and a part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
