Lady Coyotes take out McPherson for second straight win
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

The Kansas Wesleyan Lady Coyotes led from wire-to-wire as they picked up their second straight win with an 82-68 victory over McPherson at the Sport Center in McPherson on Thursday night.

It’s just the second time all season that the Lady Coyotes have won more games in a row. The last time was back in November when the Lady Coyotes defeated Manhattan Christian on November 14, and four days later took out Oklahoma Wesleyan.

Wesleyan jumped out to a 6-0 lead, all points coming from senior forward Jentri Dixon, who finished with 20 points on the night. The Lady Bulldogs fought back, getting within two at the 15:41 mark on a bucket by Becky Bratcher.

Charressa Gray then hit at three for Wesleyan, putting them up five, with 15:02 left in the first half. Both teams traded baskets, until a pair of free throws by Jenn Lee gave the Lady Coyotes another five-point advantage with 12:30 left.

McPherson answered, getting as close as one point, the last time on a Kristin Ozbun bucket with 9:28 left, as the Lady Coyotes held onto a 18-17 lead. The Lady Coyote offense then sprang to life, sparked by a Madison Askins bucket, back to back threes by Dittmer and Lee, and a Ascendra Peters basket, giving the Lady Coyotes a 10-point advantage with 6:40 to go in the half.

The Lady Bulldogs would get as close as five, 31-26 with 3:33 left on a Sheila Bevan basket, but the Lady Coyotes would respond, using a decisive 8-0 run to take a 13-point lead, 39-26, with 42 seconds left. That would be the halftime score as well.

April Woody would hit a pair of free throws to open the second half, getting the Lady Bulldogs as close as 11, but Wesleyan would again turn on the offensive afterburners, pulling out to a 55-36 lead with 14:40 left on a pair of Dittmer free throws.

McPherson would cut the Lady Coyote lead to ten late in the half at 71-61 on a three by Ozbun with 3:54 left, but Wesleyan would take a 17-point lead on a steal and layup by Peters with 2:33 left, and would coast to the 14-point win, 82-68.

The story of the game was the free throws. Both teams combined for 64 foul shot attempts, and connecting on 49. There were 42 foul shots in the second half, which took nearly an hour to complete.

Peters would lead all scorers with 21, while Dixon added 20 and Dittmer had 16 points and 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Wesleyan (9-18, 5-12) shot 24-of-52 from the floor for 45.3 percent, including a 50 percent (8-of-16) effort from behind the three point line. The Lady Coyotes were also 26-of-30 from the foul line for 86.7 percent. Dittmer’s 11 rebounds led the Lady Coyotes while Peters added seven, as both teams finished with 40 rebounds.

Jamie Harvey would lead McPherson with 17 points, while Ozbun had 12 as McPherson shot 31.7 percent from the field on 20-of-63 shooting.  The Lady Bulldogs also struggled from the free throw line, only hitting 23 of their 34 tries for 67.6 percent. Angeline Fiorenzi would lead the Lady Bulldogs with eight rebounds, while Bratcher would add six.

The Lady Coyotes wrap up the regular season on Saturday as they travel to Leavenworth to take on Saint Mary. Wesleyan will most likely be the no.7 seed in the KCAC Post-Season Tournament, and would host Saint Mary on Monday in the Tournament Play-In game.

-- KWU SI --