McPherson, Kan. – First year head coach,
Josh Nichols, said at the beginning of the women's basketball season, at the KCAC media days, that "there are a lot of unknowns", for this year's squad. Four games into the season, there a probably still a few unknowns for the Bulldogs, but one that is known, is that the Bulldogs have yet to come out on the losing end of one of their games.
The Mac ladies picked up their fourth win in a row, defeating crosstown rival Central Christian College 71-56, in the inaugural "Mayor's Cup", played at the McPherson High School Roundhouse. The two teams met just last weekend in the McPherson Classic, with the Bulldogs getting the best of the Tigers 75-53. Wednesday's game had a little bit different feel, than the first matchup last Friday. The Tigers, despite being without, Abbie Banks, one of their top players, who was injured in practice this week, played with a different level of intensity than they had in the first match up.
The Bulldogs didn't do much to help themselves out in the early going, turning the ball over 5 times, and shooting just 27% in the opening quarter. The Tigers took a 1 point lead, 17-16, at the end of the first 10 minutes on a buzzer beating three point heave that banked in off the glass.
In the second quarter, the Bulldogs continued to struggle holding onto the ball, and for the first 8 minutes they had a hard time scoring. With just under 3 minutes left in the half, the Tigers had opened up a 5 point lead, 28-23. In the final three minutes of the period, things started to turn for the Bulldogs, sparked the sharp shooting of Brook DeLuca (Sr. Hutchinson, Kan.). She hit a pair of free throws, to cut the Tiger lead to 3, then after a missed three pointer by the Tigers, she hit a big trey, to tie the game at 28. From there, the Bulldogs scored the final six points of the half, to head into the locker room leading 34-28.
In the second half, the Bulldogs were never really threatened. They extended their six point halftime lead out to nine points, 50-41, by the end of the 3
rd period, and then in the final ten minutes, pushed the lead out past double digits. They wound up pulling away in the 4
th quarter, and won by 16. They were helped to the win largely in part because they were able to not turn the ball over as many times in the second half, and the Tigers shot the ball poorly in the final 20 minutes of action. They shot just 30% from the floor in the second half, while the Bulldogs shot 39%.
The Bulldogs dominated on the glass, especially the offensive glass, and inside the paint. They had 61 total rebounds, and nearly half of them were offensive boards. They scored 55 of their total points inside the paint, and they turned their 25 offensive rebounds into 20 second chance points. Mac had four players score in double figures, led by Deluca and
Brittany Roberts (So. Mansfield, Texas) who each had 17. Also scoring in double digits were
Danielle Holt (Jr. Glenpool, Okla.) and
Sonerka White (Sr. Houston, Texas), who both chipped in 11.
Now at 4-0 on the season, the Bulldogs will put their undefeated season on the line again this Saturday, when they host the Dakota State University Trojans. The game was originally scheduled for 3:00 pm, but has been moved to 1:30 pm at the Sport Center.
MC (71) – DeLuca (17), Roberts (17), White (11), Holt (11), Tims (8), Harlow (4), Raimondi (2), Olvera (1).
