Lady Coyotes eliminate Saint Mary in KCAC Play-In 91-45
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

Jentri Dixon makes a move on Saint Mary's Janae Garcia in the second half of KWU's 91-45 blowout over the Spires

After beating Saint Mary 81-64 on Saturday night in Leavenworth, Kansas Wesleyan and the Spires faced each other on Monday night in the KCAC Post-Season Tournament Play-In game at Muir Gym. The Lady Coyotes blew out the Spires 91-45 to advance to the tournament quarterfinals on Thursday night against Ottawa in Ottawa.

It was another wire-to-wire win for the Lady Coyotes, and their fourth straight win overall. The Lady Coyotes jumped out to a 10-0 lead with 17:44 left on a three by Charressa Gray who scores a game high 20 points. The Spires were held scoreless until the 16:56 mark when Molly Dumovich scored on a pass from Brandy Gray.

An old fashioned three point play by Jentri Dixon gave Wesleyan an 11-point lead with 16:42 left in the half, and the Lady Coyotes never let Saint Mary get closer than nine the rest of the night, the last time at the 13:49 mark on free throws by Janae Garcia.

Dixon would cap a 9-3 Wesleyan run to give the Lady Coyotes a 15-point lead, 24-9 with 8:46 left. After a Jamie Mireles three to get Saint Mary within 12, the Lady Coyotes would explode with a 23-7 lead over the next 7 minutes, 38 seconds to take a 28-point lead, 47-19 with 45 seconds left on free throws by Khristy Santee. Cassie Lund would hit a pair of free throws for Saint Mary with 25 seconds left to send the Lady Coyotes to the halftime break with a 47-21 lead.

KWU did not convert a field goal in the last 4:25 of the first half as the Lady Coyotes’ last ten points of the half came at the foul line.

Saint Mary scored the first four points of the second half, but Kaylaen Dittmer would score the next seven for KWU as part of a 12-4 run that pushed the lead to 30, 59-29, with 13:07 left on a basket by Peters on a pass from Nikkii Ellison.

Wesleyan (11-18) then used a 19-3 run to take a 46-point lead with 5:55 on a layup by Sarah Montoya, after which KWU coach Gordon Reimer began clearing the bench. Peters would give the Lady Coyotes a 50-point advantage with 3:09 on free throws before exiting the game.

The Lady Coyotes would lead by as many as 52 with 2:05 left, before surrendering the final six points to the Spires, as the Lady Coyotes swept the season series with Saint Mary with a 91-45 win.

Gray’s 20 points led all scorers, while Peters added 19, Dittmer had 15 and Dixon 14 as the Lady Coyotes shot 30-of-64 from the floor for 46.9 percent. Peters led Wesleyan on glass with 11 boards, as the Lady Coyotes outrebounded Saint Mary 48-32. Gray added eight boards and Dittmer had six.

Garcia led Saint Mary (5-24) with 11 points and 12 rebounds. She was the only Spire to convert more than one field goal as the Spires only made 9-of-43 shots for 20.9 percent. 22 of Saint Mary’s points came at the foul line as they were 22-of-35 from the charity stripe.

KWU advances into the tournament quarterfinals, where they will face no.2 seeded Ottawa on Thursday night at 7:00 in Ottawa. A win Thursday night will send the Lady Coyotes to the tournament semifinals to face the winner of Thursday night’s McPherson at Tabor game on Saturday.

-- KWU SI --