Bulldogs Defeat KCC in Season Opener

Photo by Micah Gilbert

Bartlesville, Okla. – The McPherson College women's basketball team opened up their 2019-20 campaign with a convincing, 86-43 win over the Kansas Christian College Falcons as part of this weekend's Oklahoma Wesleyan University Classic in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

The Bulldogs got a big game from Brittany Roberts (Jr. Mansfield, Texas), who finished with 17 points on 7 of 9 shooting from the floor, and 3 of 5 from the charity stripe, one of three Bulldogs to end up with double figures. The other two were Maison Moseley (So. Woodward, Okla.), with 14, and Tatum Griffin (Fr. Edmond, Okla.) who added 11.

The Bulldogs shot 47% from the floor, knocking down 35 of the 74 field goal attempts. From behind the three point arc, they were seven percentage points higher than their average from a year ago. Against the Falcons, they shot 33% from deep, making 8 of their 24 tries.

The Bulldogs jumped all over the Falcons from the tip, taking a 24-5 lead after the first 10 minutes of play. They continued to pour it on in the second quarter, extending their lead to 44-18 at the halftime intermission. They doubled up the Falcons 22-11 in the third quarter and then closed out the fourth by outscoring the Falcons 20-14. The only negative on the stat sheet was in the turnover column where the Bulldogs finished with 20.

Coach Nichols, who is in his second year at the helm of the Bulldog program, commented on the win saying, "In a game like this it's easy to lose focus and those mental lapses lead to 20 turnovers and giving up 11 offensive rebounds. I didn't think our 40 minutes of basketball was up to our standards as a whole." He pointed out some individual performances, adding "Brittany [Roberts] and Maison [Moseley] had solid games along with a few others, but over all we have to be locked in for the full 40 no matter who we are playing against. Tatum [Griffin] and Britney Jarvis shot the ball well and Elle [Gillen] and Dani [Holt] did some good things as well."
 
The Bulldogs will get a much bigger test on Saturday when they wrap up the Classic against the Bellevue University Bruins. Tipoff is slated for 4 p.m.