McPherson, Kan. – The McPherson College women's basketball team moved to 5-0 on the season, with a 62-58 win at home over the Dakota State University Lady T's.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a seven point lead, 17-10 after the first quarter, but then the offense stalled, and they were outscored in the second quarter 22-11, to trail by four, 32-28 by the end of the half. In the second half, the Bulldogs rallied and turned the four point halftime deficit into a four point win, by outscoring the Lady T's 15-10 in the third quarter, and 19-16 in the final ten minutes of play.
The Bulldogs did most of their damage inside paint, where they outscored the Lady T's 40 to 25. They were led in scoring by
Asya Tims (Jr. Ada, Okla.), who went for 16, on 7 or 8 shooting from the floor, and 1 for 1 from behind the three point arc. She was joined in double figures by
Brooke DeLuca (Sr. Hutchinson, Kan.) who chipped in 10 on 2 of 11 shooting from the floor, and 5 of 6 from the charity stripe.
"We can out a little flat to start the game, but our bench found a rhythm to keep us in the game," said Bulldog head coach
Josh Nichols. He complemented the play of Tims and the defense saying, "Asya is starting to be more consistent on the offensive end and our defense once again stepped up." One area of concern is free throw shooting. The Bulldogs have been a little inconsistent from the line thus far this season. Against the Lady T's on Saturday, the Bulldogs were just 50% from the line, going 15 of 30. Nichols added, "We are playing with fire without free throw shooting. Fortunately Brooke [DeLuca] made a huge play for us, getting an offensive rebound and knocking down 2 free throws to seal the game."
Saturday's game was the Bulldogs' final tune-up before the conference portion of their schedule kicks off next week. The Mac ladies will open up KCAC play next Wednesday, when they host the Oklahoma Wesleyan University Eagles at 6:00 pm at the Sport Center.
