McPherson, Kan. – The McPherson College women's basketball team picked up their first win of 2019, defeating Avila University 82-71, and snapped a five game losing streak.
The Bulldogs played arguably their best game of the season, in nearly every facet of the game. W, here they were exceptional was on the defensive end of the floor, where they forced the Eagles into 17 turnovers, and shooting from behind the three point arc, where they knocked down 9 of 21 attempts. Two big statistical categories that jump off the stat sheet were the points off turnovers, and the bench scoring. The Bulldogs turned the Eagles' 17 turnovers in to 24 points, while the Eagles scored only 16 points off the Bulldogs' miscues. The Bulldogs also won the battle of the benches, getting 30 points from their personnel off the bench, while the Avila subs scored only 11 points.
The Bulldogs used relentless full court pressure defense on nearly every Avila Possession, and when they didn't force a turnover, they forced the Eagles to run their offense with a short shot clock. The Eagles got a few runouts against the press in the early going, but they were unable to capitalize, missing several point blank looks at the rim.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a quick lead, 10-2, four minutes into the game. The Eagles trimmed the Bulldog lead to 4, with just over 5 minutes to play in the opening quarter before the Bulldogs finished the final five minutes of the period by outscoring the Eagles 16-10 to take a 12 point lead, 26-14 at the first break.
They continued applying pressure on the Eagles during the second 10 minutes and heading into the halftime intermission, they had extended their lead over the visitors to 14, 43-29. Out of the break, the Bulldogs kept their foot on the gas. They led by as many as 19 points, twice in the 3
rd quarter, but the Eagles hit a big three pointer at the end of the period to cut the Bulldog lead to 16, 59-43.
Avila only outscored the Bulldogs in one quarter, and it happened to be the final one. The Eagles won the period 28-23, but it was to no avail. The Bulldogs had built up a 16 point lead in the first three periods, and despite the surge by the Eagles in the final 10 minutes, they wound up with an 11 point victory 82-71.
Brittany Roberts (So. Mansfield, Texas) paced the Bulldogs with her 7
th double double of the season, scoring 18 points and grabbing 12 boards. Three other Bulldogs joined her with double figures in scoring, including
Asya Tims (Jr. Ada, Okla.) and
Brooke DeLuca (Sr. Hutchinson, Kan.), who both had 15 points, and
Elle Gillen (Jr. Castle Rock, Colo.), who came off the bench to score 14. For Tims, 8 of her 15 points came from the free throw line, while DeLuca did all of her damage from downtown, where she was 5 of 8.
"Tonight was a really good team win.", said Bulldog head coach
Josh Nichols. "I knew it was a only matter of time before we broke through." Nichols lauded the play of Roberts, DeLuca and Tims saying, "Brittany was back to having a double double, Brooke shot it well, and Asya finished it off at the line." He also gave a shout out to his bench adding, "Our bench was huge tonight Elle [Gillen] is evolving into more than just a shooter. Honestly, I Thought our bench was the difference."
With the win, the Bulldogs move to 7-13 overall, and 3-11 in the conference. They have a tough assignment on Wednesday when they head back out on the road to take on the Tabor College Blue Jays in Hillsboro, Kan. Tip-off between the Bulldogs and Blue Jays is scheduled for 6:00 pm.
MC (82) – Roberts (18), Tims (15), DeLuca (15), Gillen (14), Mosely (9), Holt (4), Potter (3), Olvera (2), Hurst (1), Harlow (1).
