FAYETTE, Mo. – Kansas Wesleyan women's basketball rallied from a 16-point first half deficit against No. 17 Central Methodist only to see the Eagles rally at the end for a 77-73 win on Saturday.
It was the first loss of the season for the Coyotes as KWU fell to 4-1 on the season, while Central Methodist stayed unbeaten at 3-0.
Wesleyan trailed by 14 points at the half, after being down by as many as 16 late in the second quarter, but the Coyotes would rally in the third.
Wesleyan slowly worked its way back into the game, cutting the lead back into single digits with 3:40 to go in the third on a bucket by LaMyah Ricks (SO/Shawnee Mission, Kan.). Five straight by the Eagles pushed their lead back out to 14, but the Coyotes surged again, getting back within 10 at 57-47 on Catherine Bowman's (FR/Bucklin, Kan.) bucket with 1:19 to go.
Bowman scored with 8:37 left in the game to get the Coyotes within four at 58-54, but seven straight by CMU gave the Eagles an 11-point cushion with 6:52 to go.
Here came the Coyotes. Sparked by five straight points from Ricks, the Coyotes would tie it at 66-all on a triple by Amanda Hill (SR/Rossville, Kan.) with 4:02 left and took a 68-67 lead with 3:27 to go on a bucket by Kelcey Hinz (SR/Whitewater, Kan.).
Another Hinz bucket with 2:50 left made it 70-67. The Coyotes would take as much as a 73-69 lead, but CMU rallied down the stretch, scoring the final eight points to come away with the 77-73 win.
The Coyotes struggled out of the gates, falling behind 8-0 to start the game, and never got closer than five points in the first quarter, trailing 18-12 after 10 minutes.
Ricks got the Coyotes within five again with 6:45 left in the second at 25-20, and Gabby Mureeba (JR/Allen, Texas) got Wesleyan within three at 29-26 with a tradition three point play with 3:32 left in the half before CMU went on a 15-4 run to close the quarter and take a 44-30 lead into intermission.
Amanda Hill led all scorers in the game with 19 points, as four Coyotes reached double figures in scoring. Hill finished with a double-double with 11 rebounds, as did Hinz who finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Ricks added 15 and Mureeba 13 as KWU was 30 of 74 shooting for 40.5 percent.
Wesleyan opens KCAC play on Wednesday at York, then has the conference home opener next Saturday against McPherson inside Mabee Arena.