KWU women post second straight win 67-59 over McPherson
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

McPHERSON – Kansas Wesleyan rallied from an eight point first half deficit to lead by as many as nine in the second half, as the Lady Coyotes held off a late McPherson charge to get a 67-59 win over the Bulldogs on Monday night at the McPherson College Sport Center.

It’s the second straight win for the Lady Coyotes who improve their record to 6-12 overall, and 3-5 in the KCAC, jumping into a three-way tie for sixth place with Friends and Ottawa.

It took over a minute for either team to find the bucket, as the Coyotes got on the board first on a free throw from Tierra Baldwin with 18:46 to go in the first half. Becky Bratcher would get McPherson’s first score at the 17:51 mark on a pass from Whitney Pegram, but the Coyotes would jump back out to a 4-2 lead on a three from Charressa Gray.

Both teams would trade buckets back and forth until LaCole Wilkinson’s three with 15:53 left would give Wesleyan a 7-6 advantage, and would spark a 9-0 run that would give the Coyotes a seven-point lead, 13-6, with 12:12 left on a pair of Kaylaen Dittmer foul shots.

McPherson (4-4, 11-5) would mount a furious comeback, scoring six straight in less than two minutes to get within one at the 10:11 mark. Callie Coberly’s score with 9:35 left would give the Bulldogs the lead back, but Emily Luckeroth would hit to give Wesleyan the lead back.

Pegram would give McPherson the lead back with free throws with 8:59 left, sparking nine-straight from the Bulldogs that would give them a 23-15 lead with 6:07 left. The Coyotes would fight back, cutting the lead to three, with 29 seconds left on a free throw by Baldwin.

Jamie Brewer would get McPherson back up by five with 16 ticks left, but Wilkinson’s drive and score just before the buzzer would send both teams into the half with McPherson leading 27-24.

Pegram would give McPherson a five-point advantage to open the half when the Coyotes would make their first charge of the period. Gray would score with 19:10 left, sparking a 9-1 Wesleyan run to give the Coyotes their first lead of the half at 32-30 with 17:49 left on a three by Dittmer.

April Woody would get four straight to give McPherson the lead back with 16:04 left, but Luckeroth’s three would give Wesleyan the lead back with 15:41 left, sparking an 11-0 Coyote, giving KWU its biggest lead of the night at nine at 43-34 with 12:02 left.

McPherson would rally, getting within three with 10:11 left on a bucket from Angelina Fiorenzi. A three point play from Khristy Santee would push Wesleyan’s lead back out to six, as the Coyotes would hold the lead until the 3:32 mark with Brewer’s free throws would tie it back up at 56.

Woody would give McPherson the lead with 2:53 left on free throws, but Luckeroth would tie it again at 58 with free throws.

Pegram would hit one of two foul shots giving McPherson the lead back at 59-58 with 2:18 left, but the Coyotes would get four straight from Dittmer as part of a 9-0 game-ending run to come away with the 67-59 win.

Luckeroth and Dittmer would lead all scorers in the game with 17, while Gray would add 12 as Wesleyan (6-12, 3-5) was 21-of-70 from the field for 30 percent in the game. Gray would lead Wesleyan with 12 rebounds as the Coyotes outrebounded a much bigger McPherson team 45-41.

Pegram led McPherson with 12, while three other Bulldogs each had 11 as the Bulldogs were 22-of-49 from the field for 44.9 percent in the game. Bratcher had nine rebounds to lead the Bulldogs, while three others had seven. Pegram was huge inside for the Bulldogs, blocking nine shots.

The Coyotes continue a busy week of action on Thursday as they travel to Hillsboro to take on Tabor before opening a four-game homestand on Saturday against Ottawa.

-- KWU SI --