Bulldogs Lose Tough Game to OKWU

By Drew Brunecz
 
The McPherson Women's Basketball Team lost a hard-fought battle with OKWU tonight by a score of 82-73.
 
The first quarter was a defensive battle, with the score being only 14-9 at the end of the period. Both offenses stalled for a bit midway through the quarter, until Oklahoma Wesleyan pulled out to a nine point lead towards the end. The Bulldogs wouldn't back down though, as they scored four quick points to cut the lead down to five before the quarter ended.
 
Both teams found their groove on offense in the second quarter. McPherson outscored the Eagles 26-21 during the period. Neither team went on much of run this quarter, it was pretty tightly contested through the end of the first half. The Eagles led for most of the first half, until the very end, when the Bulldogs completely closed the gap, tying the game up at 35, as the teams headed into the locker room at halftime.
 
The third quarter is when OKWU really pulled ahead. They outscored the Bulldogs by 11 points. They slowly built their lead until the end of the period, when they went on an 11-3 heading into the final 10 minutes. McPherson battled hard in the final quarter, outscoring by the Eagles by two, but unfortunately could not close the gap.
 
The Bulldogs had an off-night shooting, as the shot 33% from the floor, and only 24% from beyond the arc. A big disadvantage McPherson had was on the boards, losing the rebound battle 41-26. Asya Tims (Jr. Ada, Okla.), was the leading scorer for Mac, with 14 points. Both Elle Gillen (Jr. Castle Rock, Colo.), and Brittany Roberts (So. Mansfield, Texas), added 13 points of their own. Roberts was also the leading rebounder with six total.
 
Josh Nichols, the Bulldogs' head coach, commented on his team's performance saying, "I thought we did some good things tonight. I loved our effort, but at the end of the day we got crushed on boards and that was the difference. We can fix that, and I think we can break through and end this skid.
The Bulldogs hope to bounce back as they take on Avila University at home on Saturday, at 3:00 PM.
 
MC (73) – Tims (14), Roberts (13), Gillen (13), Raimondi (7), Holt (6), DeLuca (6), Potter (4), Harlow (2), Mosely (2), Branscum (2), Hurst (2), Mikulski (2).