McPHERSON, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) --- The McPherson College women's basketball team saw an opportunity to keep pace with the top half of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) slip through its grasp Wednesday night as visiting Bethany College erased a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit en route to a 64-56 win at the Sport Center.
The teams played a fairly even first half with Bethany (12-8, 8-5 KCAC) holding a 17-16 lead after one quarter. McPherson (10-10, 6-7 KCAC) grabbed a 22-20 lead on a
Cami Richardson (Hesston, Kan., Hesston HS) 3-pointer at the 6:35 mark of the second quarter, only to see the Swedes score four straight points before Richardson - who had 18 points in the first half - drained another triple to put the Bulldogs back in front with 3:32 remaining. Bethany scored the final four points of the half on a pair of Cassidy Enns free throws and a Sydney Ahaneku basket to take a 28-25 lead at the break.
McPherson came out firing in the third quarter, opening the frame on an 11-2 run to turn the three-point deficit into a 36-30 lead at the 6:48 mark. The Swedes were able to trim the deficit to three points on a handful of occasions during the middle portion of the quarter, but a pair of Richardson free throws with 2:39 left in the frame gave the Bulldogs a 43-38 lead that they would carry into the final stanza.
A pair of free throws by
Julie Olvera (Bakersfield, Calif., Bakersfield College) early in the fourth quarter gave McPherson its biggest lead of the game at seven points (45-38). Bethany began to slowly chip away at the advantage, outscoring the Bulldogs, 14-6, over the next 4:44 to take a 52-51 lead on a Marissa Pope basket with 4:44 to play. A pair of
Brittany Roberts (Mansfield, Texas, Lake Ridge HS) free throws with 3:27 to play briefly put McPherson back in front but the Swedes used a 6-0 run - aided by a timely offensive rebound on a missed free throw - to put the game out of reach.
Both teams struggled from the field overall with Bethany shooting just 36.4 percent (20-of-55) and McPherson checking in at 25.8 percent (17-of-66). The Swedes were able close the game out, though, shooting 56.3 percent (9-of-16) from the field in the fourth quarter, while the Bulldogs were just 2-of-18 (11.1 percent). Bethany also held a 49-41 advantage on the boards.
Richardson finished with a game-high 24 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including five 3-pointers. Roberts added eight points and a game-high 14 rebounds, while
Emma Van Donselaar (Shawnee, Kan., Shawnee Mission West HS) and
Brooklyn Coe (Corvallis, Ore., Chemeketa CC) added eight points and five rebounds apiece. Van Donselaar added a game-high three steals.
Lauren Welsch led Bethany with 20 points and seven rebounds, while Ahaneku finished with a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Sarah Bartel added 10 points, while Pope just missed double figures with nine.
Wednesday's contest kicked off a stretch of four home games in five outings for McPherson. Another test presents itself Saturday evening as No. 16 Tabor visits the Sport Center. The Bluejays (13-6, 10-3 KCAC) have their last two - topping Southwestern by 15 (78-63) last Saturday before surviving a challenge from struggling York (61-52) on Wednesday. Tipoff is slated for 5 p.m.
