Fast Ottawa start dooms Lady Coyotes
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

Kansas Wesleyan coach Gordon Reimer didn’t know what to do. Ottawa head coach Arabie Conner had never seen anything like it. The Lady Braves jumped out to a 26-0 lead on the Lady Coyotes and never looked back as they cruised to a 90-62 win on Saturday night in Muir Gym.

“I didn’t know what to do,” Reimer said. “We were contesting their shots, had a hand in their faces, and they still knocked them down.”

Conner agreed.

“It was quite a display of shooting. I’ve never seen anything like that out of our girls,” she said.

Ottawa missed its first two three point attempts, but after a Krystal White steal and layup via a Amanda Stichler pass, Ottawa would drain five consecutive triples, three of them by Brittany Broyles as the Lady Braves took a 17-0 lead with 17:06 left.

It was 26-0 before Ascendra Peters got the Coyotes on the board with a pair of free throws with 14:23 left in the half.

Ottawa had its biggest lead of the night at 43-14 with 7:06 left before the Coyotes used a 12-4 run to get within 21 at 47-26 with 1:30 left before the half.

Ottawa would take a 50-28 lead into the halftime break.

Eight straight points by the Lady Braves would give them a 30-point advantage with 17:49 left in the game on a three by Broyles. Ottawa would take its biggest lead of the night at 38 points, 68-30 on a three by Stef Randa with 14:01 left.

Wesleyan (6-14, 2-8) would answer, going on an 13-2 run to get within 27 at 70-43 with 11:31 left on a bucket by Jentri Dixon.

Ottawa (16-3, 8-1) would pull back out to a 34-point lead on a Stichler basket with 8:58 left, and Maria Labrador would give Ottawa its last 34-point lead at the 7:56 mark before Wesleyan would get as close as 25 with just over a minute left on free throws by Khristy Santee.

Peters led the Coyotes with 16 points, and Kaylaen Dittmer added 11 as Wesleyan shot 22-of-56 from the field for 39.3 percent. Charressa Gray and Madison Askins led the Coyotes with six rebounds each, and Gray had three assists to lead the Coyotes.

Broyles led Ottawa with 17 points, as five Lady Braves scored in double figures as Stichler added 13 and Tina Wilson and White had 12 and Hallie Lee added 11. The Lady Braves sizzled from the field, going 32-of-57 for 56.1 percent on the night, and knocking down 14-of-26 from behind the arc for 53.6 percent. Ottawa also turned 23 KWU turnovers into 40 points, while KWU was only able to turn 24 Ottawa miscues into 24 points. Stichler led the Lady Braves with eight rebounds and had seven assists as Ottawa outrebounded KWU 37-31, and had 23 assists on its 32 field goals.

KWU hits the road for the first time in three games, as they head to Southwestern on Thursday, before hosting Bethany next Saturday.

-- KWU SI --