UNK WBB: Sears Has a Career-Best 21 But Griffs Rally, 66-60
The Missouri Western State Griffons closed on a 10-1 run, getting two corner threes from junior Jessie Ford along the way, to get past Nebraska Kearney, 66-60, Thursday night in St. Joseph.
This was the first game for both teams since late December with Mo West (8-3, 3-0) now on six-game win streak and having beaten the Lopers (9-3, 2-1) three straight times in the MWSU Fieldhouse. The two teams will meet again on Jan. 18 in Kearney.
It was a choppy affair as Griffons first-year head coach Ashton Feldhaus picked up two technical fouls about five minutes in with UNK head coach Drew Johnson teed up midway through the third quarter. Overall, there were 42 fouls called (17 on MWSU and 25 on UNK), the second most in a Loper game this winter.
MWSU used a 12-2 run at the start of the second half to open a nine-point lead, but the Lopers hung around and then regained the lead after a triple by veteran Meg Burns (Ankeny, Ia.) midway through the fourth quarter. That made it 57-56 and then point guard Jillian Aschoff (Lincoln Pius) converted a layup. UNK was poised to make it 62-56 at the 5:08 mark but a Burns three rimmed out and it was all Griffs from then on.
An English native who played last year at Division II Eckerd (Fla.) College, Ford hit a wide open three from the left corner to tie things up. After veteran point guard Alyssa Bonilla made a driving layup, Ford sunk a trey from the right corner that made it 64-60 with 1:31 to play. In the last five minutes, UNK missed its last 13 shots as well as two free throws and committed two turnovers.
"I feel like we got open looks. I'll have to watch the film and see but it felt like we got shots that we wanted," said Johnson on the KRVN Radio post-game show. "Just didn't convert and then they made plays down the stretch. (Ford) comes in and hits two big threes and that's the ball game."
Mo West was just 3 of 12 from the field and 3 of 8 from the line in the fourth quarter but held UNK to 22% (4 of 18) shooting while also taking advantage of four turnovers. Overall, the Griffs tallied 24 points off 20 Loper miscues, and 12 o-boards led to another 11 points.
"You can't give up 24 points off turnovers and 11 second chance points. Over half their points are things we can control," said Johnson. "If you do that, it's going to be really hard to win."
Five-five Estonia junior Marie Sepp, a transfer from Division I Albany (N.Y.), went for a game-high 21 points on 9 of 12 (1 of 3 threes) shooting. Next, Bonilla was just 3
of 15 from the field but sunk 7 of 12 freebies to score 14 while also having five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Four others were between five and nine points including junior post Kassandra Caron (eight rebounds, seven points) who fouled out late.
"We refused to shot fake the bigs. They had six blocks at halftime and never executed the scout," said Johnson. "Feel like that is a missed opportunity when it's 59-56 late."
UNK got a career-high 21 points from sophomore reserve Jordan Sears (McPherson, Kan.). In just 222 minutes of work, she was 6 of 10 from the field (5 of 7 threes) and 4 of 6 at the line. Her previous high of 19 points came back in November against Minnesota-Crookston. Both Burns and Aschoff tallied 10 apiece with senior wing Samantha Moore (Mullen) limited to 11 minutes due to a first quarter injury. She eventually returned to the court.
"Proud of Jordan and I thought she played well. Shot it with a bunch of confidence, got to the line a couple of times and is starting to show the skill set that we thought she'd have when we recruited her," said Johnson.
UNK visits Northwest Missouri on Saturday; that game will now tip at 11 a.m. due to an impending winter storm. The Bearcats (7-6, 0-3) led at the half tonight but fell to No. 3 Fort Hays State, 70-60.