KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – McKendree University women’s basketball trailed by 20 points just three minutes into the third quarter at Truman State before cutting the lead to 74-68 with 33 seconds left, but the Bulldogs would make five of six free throws down the stretch to secure a 79-7 win over the Bearcats here Saturday afternoon in Great Lakes Valley Conference action at Pershing Arena.
With the setback, McKendree snaps its two-game winning streak and falls to 2-4 overall and 0-1 in the GLVC, while Truman improved to 4-3 overall and 1-0 in the league.
After trailing 45-29 at the half, McKendree outscored Truman State, 42-34, in the second half to help the Bearcats mount its rally.
“I think early on in the game if we would’ve had a little better focus on just their (Truman’s) post play and defending cross screens. They got too many early touches in the paint with Weltha and we let her get hot early in the game, it might’ve been a different situation at halftime,” McKendree head coach Kari Kerkhoff said. “I loved our fight and we were able to battle back in the second half.”
Truman, who was playing its first game of the season, opened the third quarter by scoring six of the first eight points to pull out to a 51-31 lead. The Bearcats, though, used an 11-2 run to pull within 53-42 following a basket from freshman guard Georgia Duncan (Washington, Ill./Washington Community) with 4:25 left in the quarter.
TSU would answer with back with a 7-4 run to push its lead to 60-46 with 1:13 left in the period. McKendree would close the half by scoring four of the final six points to trail 62-50 heading into the final quarter.
The Bulldogs would open the fourth quarter on a 7-2 run to push its 12-point lead to 17 points at 69-52 with 7:32 left in the fourth quarter.
From that point, the Bearcats would mount another comeback as they used a 16-5 run capped by a basket from freshman Alyssa Powell (Troy, Ill./Alton Marquette Catholic) to pull McKendree within six points at 74-68 with 33 seconds remaining. Powell scored the final four points of the run.
“We just kept finding a way and that’s the biggest part,” the eighth-year McKendree coach added. “What I like more than anything was our emphasis on boxing out the last couple of weeks and I thought I saw a focus on that today and if can continue to do that in terms of boxing out and crashing the boards offensively should help us be more successful.”
Hannah Belanger would make four straight free…
With the setback, McKendree snaps its two-game winning streak and falls to 2-4 overall and 0-1 in the GLVC, while Truman improved to 4-3 overall and 1-0 in the league.
After trailing 45-29 at the half, McKendree outscored Truman State, 42-34, in the second half to help the Bearcats mount its rally.
“I think early on in the game if we would’ve had a little better focus on just their (Truman’s) post play and defending cross screens. They got too many early touches in the paint with Weltha and we let her get hot early in the game, it might’ve been a different situation at halftime,” McKendree head coach Kari Kerkhoff said. “I loved our fight and we were able to battle back in the second half.”
Truman, who was playing its first game of the season, opened the third quarter by scoring six of the first eight points to pull out to a 51-31 lead. The Bearcats, though, used an 11-2 run to pull within 53-42 following a basket from freshman guard Georgia Duncan (Washington, Ill./Washington Community) with 4:25 left in the quarter.
TSU would answer with back with a 7-4 run to push its lead to 60-46 with 1:13 left in the period. McKendree would close the half by scoring four of the final six points to trail 62-50 heading into the final quarter.
The Bulldogs would open the fourth quarter on a 7-2 run to push its 12-point lead to 17 points at 69-52 with 7:32 left in the fourth quarter.
From that point, the Bearcats would mount another comeback as they used a 16-5 run capped by a basket from freshman Alyssa Powell (Troy, Ill./Alton Marquette Catholic) to pull McKendree within six points at 74-68 with 33 seconds remaining. Powell scored the final four points of the run.
“We just kept finding a way and that’s the biggest part,” the eighth-year McKendree coach added. “What I like more than anything was our emphasis on boxing out the last couple of weeks and I thought I saw a focus on that today and if can continue to do that in terms of boxing out and crashing the boards offensively should help us be more successful.”
Hannah Belanger would make four straight free…
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