Photo by Christie Betker
McPherson, Kan. – If you were unable to make it out to the McPherson Sport Center on Monday night, you missed a fantastic women's basketball game between the McPherson College Bulldogs, and the Sterling College Warriors. The Bulldogs had a chance to win the game late, but the Warriors were ultimately able to escape with a one point victory, 60-59.
The Warriors came into the game ranked 7
th in the latest NAIA top 25 poll, but with the exception of a three minute stretch late in the first half, the Bulldogs outplayed the visitors from Sterling. The game was close from the outset. The Warriors got up by as many as six points late in the opening period, before the Bulldogs closed the quarter on 7-2 run to cut the deficit to one, 18-17, at the end of the first 10 minutes.
The Bulldogs took their first lead of the game. 20-19, at the 8:36 mark of the 2
nd quarter on a layup by
Brittni Harlow (Jr. Lincoln, Kan.). It was short lived however, and the Warriors retook the lead on their next possession. With 3:34 remaining in the half, the game was tied at 24. Over the final three and a half minutes, the Warriors went on a 9-0 run, to take a 9 point lead, 33-24, into the halftime intermission.
The Warriors scored the first bucket of the second half, to go up by 11, and looked poised to break the game open, but a big three point basket by
Brooke DeLuca (Sr. Hutchinson, Kan.), cut the Warrior lead to 8, and kept the Bulldogs within striking distance. At the 6:01 mark in the period, the Bulldogs had trimmed the lead down to 3, 39-36, and then both teams went the next four minutes without scoring a basket. The Warriors finally broke the scoring drought to go up five, 41-36 with 2:14 remaining in the period. DeLuca split a pair of free throws to cut the deficit back to 4, but the Warriors hit the quarter's final two buckets to go back up by 8, 45-37 heading into the final period.
The Bulldogs opened the 4
th quarter with an old fashioned three point play by Harlow, to get back with in 5, 45-40. The Warriors, then missed on a pair of free throws on their next possession, opening the door for the Bulldogs. On their next trip down the floor, it was Harlow again, this time hitting a shot from beyond the three point arc, to cut the Warrior lead to 2, 45-43. With 6:14 remaining in regulation, the Warriors led by 5, 50-45, but another huge three point basket, this time from
Julie Olvera (Sr. Bakersfield, Calif.), got the Bulldogs back within two.
Danielle Holt (Jr. Glenpool, Okla.) went 1 for 2 from the line on the next Bulldog possession, and the McPherson ladies were back to within one, with just over 5 minutes to play. After a missed three pointer by Sterling, the Bulldogs took the lead, 51-50 on a layup by
Brittany Roberts (So. Mansfield, Texas). The Bulldogs and Warriors traded baskets on their next possessions, but with 2:23 remaining, they had built up a six point lead, 58-52. At the 1:15 mark,
Elle Gillen (Jr. Castle Rock, Colo.) hit a big three pointer to pull the Bulldogs within a possession, 58-55.
The Warriors turned the ball over on their next possession, and with just 58 ticks remaining, Mac had a chance to tie the game. Unable to get an open look from beyond the arc, Roberts found Gillen posting up her defender on the right block. She spun to her left, and made the layup, to get the Bulldogs to within 1, 58-57. With the shot clock winding down on their next possession, the Warriors' Kylah Comely, hit a 15 foot jumper, to push the lead back out to 3. 60-57.
After a timeout by the Bulldogs, they were able to advance the ball to mid court with 11 seconds on the clock. Gillen inbounded the ball to
Asya Tims (Jr. Ada, Okla.), and then sprinted to the near corner. Tims found Gillen in the corner, but she didn't have an open look, and instead drove the ball baseline and hit a tough layup to cut the lead to 1 with 3.9 second left. This time the Warriors called timeout and advanced the ball to mid-court.
After the timeout, the Warriors turned the ball over trying to inbound the ball, on a five second call, giving the Bulldogs hope. Mac called timeout, and Coach Nichols drew up a play. They inbounded the ball to Roberts on the right block. She spun baseline and put up a quick shot that was no good. Holt grabbed the rebound and put up another quick shot from inside of 5 feet. She got the shot off in time, but it hit off the back iron, and the Warriors escaped with a 60-59 victory.
The Bulldogs played extremely well on both ends of the floor. Defensively, they turned the Warriors over 21 times, and converted 17 of their points off of those miscues. They also got great production from their bench. The Bulldog reserves, outscored their counter parts 21 to 8. The Bulldogs were led in scoring by Roberts, who recorded another double double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Joining her in double figures were Times with 12, and Gillen with 10.
"We played our guts out tonight," said Nichols. Â "I was extremely proud of the girls and how we responded after the tough loss to KWU on Saturday. We got the looks we needed tonight, the ball just didn't find the bottom of the net." He praised the play of
Elle Gillen and the rest of the bench saying, "I thought Elle made some big shots and our bench did a great job for us tonight."Â
The Bulldogs are now 7-16 overall, and 3-14 in the KCAC. The get a couple day of rest before they take the hardwood again on Thursday, at Southwestern College, in Winfield, Kansas. Tip-off between the Bulldogs and Moundbuilders is set for 6:00 pm.
MC (59) – Roberts (13), Tims (12), Gillen (10), Harlow (8), DeLuca (7), Holt (4), Olvera (3), Raimondi (2).
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