Coyote women rout Ottawa 75-42
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

Tierra Baldwin got the first shot of the game for Kansas Wesleyan. Her shot from just outside the goal on the left side bounced twice on the rim, and then nestled itself on the back iron up against the glass, and stayed right there. Ottawa got possession on the jump ball.

It was about the only thing that didn’t go the way of the Coyotes as Kansas Wesleyan routed Ottawa 75-42 on Saturday night at Muir Gym.

The Coyotes jumped out to a 12-0 lead with 17 minutes left on a three point play from Baldwin and never looked back. Ottawa would answer back with eight straight points to get within four at 12-8 on back to back three’s from Jara Vance with 15:56 to go in the first.

Wesleyan would eventually push its lead to ten at the 10:46 mark when Emily Luckeroth would connect on a three, and get fouled, completing a four-point play, giving the Coyotes a 25-15 lead.

Ottawa would get no closer than nine the rest of the night at 35-26 with 5:06 to go in the half, as Wesleyan would end the first half on a 9-1 run to take a 44-27 lead into the break.

Five straight points to open the second half from freshman LaCole Wilkinson would push Wesleyan’s lead to 22 with 16:51 left at 49-27.

Ottawa would cut lead to 16 with 14:02 to go on a bucket from Rachel Brown, but the Coyotes wasted no time ending any chance of an Ottawa comeback.

Khristy Santee would score with 13:33 left to get the Coyote lead back up to 18 at 51-33, sparking an 11-3 Wesleyan run to give KWU its biggest lead of the game thus far at 24, 60-36, with 8:40 left.

KWU (7-13, 4-6) would extend its run to 26-9 to finish off the 33-point win, as Ottawa was held scoreless for the final 3:20 of the game.

Baldwin led the way with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Luckeroth had 15, Gray 13 and Wilkinson 12 for the Coyotes who shot 26-of-68 from the field for 39.7 percent. Wesleyan was also 6-of-14 from long range on the night for 42.9 percent. Wilkinson and Gray each had three assists to lead the Coyotes, while Luckeroth had three steals.

Ottawa (5-15, 4-6) was led by Brown’s ten points off the bench, while Vance added eight for the Lady Braves as they shot just 27.5 percent from the field, hitting 14-of-51 shots, including a dismal 5-for-27 performance in half number two for 18.5 percent.

Wesleyan, which has won three of its last four, is back at home on Thursday as the Coyotes entertain arch-rival Bethany at 6 p.m., inside Muir Gymnasium. Wesleyan is at home again next Saturday against Southwestern, and wraps up the four-game home stand on February 7 vs. McPherson.

-- KWU SI --