STERLING - Kansas Wesleyan appeared to be on the verge of a big Kansas Conference road victory, but Sterling's fourth-quarter rally dashed the Coyotes' hopes.
The Warriors ended the game on a 19-6 run and defeated KWU 62-57 Wednesday night in the Gleason Center. The loss dropped Wesleyan to 5-2 for the season, 3-1 in the KCAC; Sterling improved to 7-2 and 4-0.
Back-to-back Madison Lambert 3-pointers gave the Coyotes a 51-43 lead with 7:39 remaining in the game - the biggest lead for either team to that point.
Sterling, though, answered with an 18-3 surge over the next seven minutes and led 61-54 with 30 seconds left. Karlee Jacobs and Kali Briar fueled the comeback with seven points each. The Warriors outscored KWU 19-12 in the final 10 minutes.
"I think we got a little tired there in the fourth (quarter)," coach Harper Taylor said on the postgame radio show. "When you play really good teams, some of those breakdowns that you work on, no matter how many times you do them, don't translate on the court. With this young group we knew this would be a tough matchup and we've got a lot to learn from this game."
Trailing 23-20 midway through the second quarter, the Coyotes went on an 8-0 run and led 28-23 with 3:19 left in the first half. They had a 32-29 halftime advantage and took a 45-43 lead into the final quarter.
Taylor was pleased with her team's effort.
"I think they played really hard on defense," she said. "I'm really proud of the effort, even with some of the (full court) press that we threw on them. I just think at the end of the day when you're playing against a better defense you've got to be able to hit some of those tough shots."
The Coyotes shot 32 percent (19 of 60) including 10 of 30 from 3-point range. They had 22 turnovers, forced 18 Sterling turnovers and won the rebounding battle 43-42. The Warriors shot 34 percent (22 of 65) and were 5 of 16 from long range.
Freshman Anna Jueneman led KWU with a career-high 11 points.
"It's been a joy to watch her get out there and not play like a freshman," Taylor said.
Kelsey Koza followed Jueneman with a career-high 10 points that included three 3-pointers. Lambert had three 3-pointers in the game and finished with nine points.
Jacobs led Sterling with 19 points while McKenna Vogl had 14 and 12 rebounds.