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A poor offensive output in the second half Thursday ultimately cost the University of Saint Mary women’s basketball team a victory.
After holding a six-point lead at half, the Lady Spires were just 4-of-28 from the field in the second period. That scoring shortage allowed visiting McPherson College to grab a late lead and hold on for a nail-biting 56-53 win over USM.
“I don’t think it was the final two minutes that hurt us, it was not scoring more than 15 points in the second half that did us in,” USM coach Mike Basler said.
The Lady Spires came out of the blocks firing. Three consecutive scoring possessions by USM allowed the squad to grab an early 8-2 advantage four minutes in.
However, McPherson’s full court pressure turned things around quickly. The Lady Bulldogs forced Saint Mary into unforced turnovers and poor shots leading to a 16-2 run by the visitors. At the 12:23 mark, McPherson had built an 18-10 lead.
“I think we were a little tight at times and that is why we didn’t handle their pressure,” Basler said.
Six minutes later a Tracie Weege 3-pointer capped off a 5-0 Saint Mary surge and USM trailed 24-22. Three minutes later USM utilized an 8-3 stretch to retake the lead and then in the half’s final two minutes, the home squad capitalized on an 8-2 push to hold a 38-32 edge at the break.
“We made a couple adjustments with how we were attacking their pressure,” the USM coach said, “I thought we were doing good at the break.”
Coming out of the half, the visitors caught up quickly to Saint Mary and the game remained there for the rest of regulation. With a minute left in regulation, McPherson banked in a lay-up to take a 54-53 advantage.
Both teams then traded missed shots but an offensive rebound by the visitors with nine seconds remaining allowed the Lady Bulldogs to add two more points to its lead.
Saint Mary had one last chance at the equalizer, which accumulated into a Jordan VanNess 3-pointer that was partially blocked and fell short.
“We went 4-for-28 in the second half and that was why we lost,” Basler said.
In the first half, USM shot 50 percent from the field. It was a drastic difference in the second half however, where the squad shot just 14 percent from the field and was outscored 24-15.
Jasmine Johnson led the team in scoring with 11 points, followed by Kendra Mattox and Adelyn Ezeh adding 10 a piece. Johnson was the team leader in rebounds as well with nine to her name and Shelby Watson contributed four assists.
The Lady Spires, now 4-9 in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, play next at Kansas Wesleyan, 8-5 in the conference, on Saturday at 5 p.m.
A poor offensive output in the second half Thursday ultimately cost the University of Saint Mary women’s basketball team a victory.
After holding a six-point lead at half, the Lady Spires were just 4-of-28 from the field in the second period. That scoring shortage allowed visiting McPherson College to grab a late lead and hold on for a nail-biting 56-53 win over USM.
“I don’t think it was the final two minutes that hurt us, it was not scoring more than 15 points in the second half that did us in,” USM coach Mike Basler said.
The Lady Spires came out of the blocks firing. Three consecutive scoring possessions by USM allowed the squad to grab an early 8-2 advantage four minutes in.
However, McPherson’s full court pressure turned things around quickly. The Lady Bulldogs forced Saint Mary into unforced turnovers and poor shots leading to a 16-2 run by the visitors. At the 12:23 mark, McPherson had built an 18-10 lead.
“I think we were a little tight at times and that is why we didn’t handle their pressure,” Basler said.
Six minutes later a Tracie Weege 3-pointer capped off a 5-0 Saint Mary surge and USM trailed 24-22. Three minutes later USM utilized an 8-3 stretch to retake the lead and then in the half’s final two minutes, the home squad capitalized on an 8-2 push to hold a 38-32 edge at the break.
“We made a couple adjustments with how we were attacking their pressure,” the USM coach said, “I thought we were doing good at the break.”
Coming out of the half, the visitors caught up quickly to Saint Mary and the game remained there for the rest of regulation. With a minute left in regulation, McPherson banked in a lay-up to take a 54-53 advantage.
Both teams then traded missed shots but an offensive rebound by the visitors with nine seconds remaining allowed the Lady Bulldogs to add two more points to its lead.
Saint Mary had one last chance at the equalizer, which accumulated into a Jordan VanNess 3-pointer that was partially blocked and fell short.
“We went 4-for-28 in the second half and that was why we lost,” Basler said.
In the first half, USM shot 50 percent from the field. It was a drastic difference in the second half however, where the squad shot just 14 percent from the field and was outscored 24-15.
Jasmine Johnson led the team in scoring with 11 points, followed by Kendra Mattox and Adelyn Ezeh adding 10 a piece. Johnson was the team leader in rebounds as well with nine to her name and Shelby Watson contributed four assists.
The Lady Spires, now 4-9 in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, play next at Kansas Wesleyan, 8-5 in the conference, on Saturday at 5 p.m.
