Lady Coyotes edged by Southwestern 64-63
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

Chantay Seim goes up for a shot in the second half of Saturday night's game against Southwestern. Purchase this picture and many others of tonight's game at Yote Photo

Kansas Wesleyan rallied from an 11-point first half deficit, but could not get past the Southwestern Lady ‘Builders, as the Coyotes fell 64-63 on Saturday night at Muir Gym.

The Coyotes also had the foul bug to overcome, as the Coyotes lost starters Charressa Gray at the 14:12 mark, and Jentri Dixon with just over a minute left in the second half to fouls.

Wesleyan (3-7, 0-1) jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead on a bucket by Gray with 16:24 left in the first half. Southwestern rallied, going on a 13-3 run over the next five minutes to take a 16-11 lead with 10:32 left. The Coyotes fought back, getting within one on a pair of Khristy Santee free throws with 8:39 left, before the Lady ‘Builders went on another 10-1 run to go up by ten again, 26-16, with 3:44 left in the half.

Southwestern would take an 11-point advantage with 2:11 left, but the Coyotes would cut the gap to seven with 54 seconds left on a three-pointer by Dixon. The Lady ‘Builders would hold a 34-27 lead at the half.

The Coyotes were hampered by a dismal 8-for-24 shooting performance in the first half, but stayed close, hitting 10-of-16 free throws.

Wesleyan would open the half on a 10-4 run to get within a point at 38-37 on a Ascendra Peters shot with 16:44 left. Southwestern (6-2, 1-0) would again use a big 13-4 run to grab a 51-41 lead with 12:08 left in the game.

The Coyotes would not give up, slowly erasing the Southwestern lead, tying things up at 58-all with 3:52 left on a Chantay Seim free throw, capping a 15-5 Wesleyan run. Whitney Jones would hit a three to put Southwestern up 61-58, and Jenna Wilson would hit one of two free throws to put the Lady ‘Builders up four, 62-58, with 1:23 left. After a Peters bucket, to get back within two, Cortney Gandy would hit a pair of free throws with nine seconds left to give Southwestern a 64-60 lead. Kaylaen Dittmer would hit a three with four ticks left, but the Coyotes could not steal the inbounds pass and Southwestern came away with the 64-63 win.

The Coyotes improved their shooting in the second half, hitting 51.7 percent on 15-of-29 shooting. Wesleyan finished the game 23-of-53 from the field for 43.4 percent, led by Peters and Dittmer with 17 each, while Dixon added 14. Dittmer also led the Coyotes with seven rebounds, while Peters and Kayli Kauzlarich added five each as the Coyotes outrebounded Southwestern 37-33.

Southwestern was led by Kara Beal with 14, while Kinsey Colclasure added 21 and Caylin Larsen had 10 as the Lady ‘Builders shot 38.5 percent from the field on 20-of-52 shooting. Larsen also led Southwestern with seven rebounds.

The Coyotes are back in action on Monday night as they travel to Ottawa to take on the Braves in the make-up of Thursday night’s game that was postponed due to the winter storm that hit eastern Kansas late this week. The Coyotes then travel to Lindsborg to take on Bethany on Thursday, and then travel to Wichita to take on Friends on Saturday.

-- KWU SI --