KWU Sports Information
YORK, Neb. – Kansas Wesleyan Women's Basketball overcame a slow start, and a seven-point first-quarter deficit to come back to defeat the York University Panthers 81-75 on Saturday night at the Freeman Center.
KWU coach Ryan Showman was glad to see how his team responded after a disappointing first quarter.
"It was just getting back to what we talked about – executing – what we talked about the last few days of practice," he said. "York came out way more fired up for this game than we did, and it was one of those things where we have got to get off to better starts on the road. It's a 40 minute game, not a 10 minute game, and we settled in, got back to executing offensively and defensively and we were able to do what we needed to do to get the win."
The Panthers opened up a 15-6 lead in the first five minutes of the game, but the Coyotes were able to cut the difference to four at 18-14 thanks to an 8-3 run with 2:53 left on a 3-pointer by Kourtney Kaufman (SO/Moundridge, Kan.).
York led 23-16 after a quarter hitting 9 of 17 first quarter tries and forcing nine KWU turnovers.
"You've gotta give a lot of credit to York, they did everything that they needed to do to beat us tonight. They shot the ball really well, everyone was hitting 3's, and they took advantage of every break down we had."
The Coyotes would respond in the second quarter, erasing an eight-point York lead with a 10-2 run, eight of the points coming from LaMyah Ricks (JR/Shawnee Mission, Kan.), who hit a pair of 3-pointers and another bucket during the charge. Her 3 with 7: 12 left tied things up at 29-all.
"I have to give credit to our team too, we stuck with it, we bent, we didn't break and we were able to make plays in the fourth quarter. LaMyah was huge, I thought Catherine Bowman (SO/Bucklin, Kan.) was huge, I thought Tylieea and Caila were huge. They all did great things in the second quarter and second half."
Bowman's triple with 6:06 to go in the half putthe Coyotes up 32-29 and KWU continued on a 20-4 run to build an eight-point lead at 39-31 on free throws by Caila Hill (SR/Rossville, Kan.) with 3:34 to go in the half.
KWU would take a 41-36 lead into the half.
York tied it back up at 45-all with seven minutes left in the third, and grabbed a 46-45 lead with 6:16 in the quarter, but a 3 by Jill Stephens (SO/Colby, Kan.) put the Coyotes up 48-46, and after York tied it again, Stephens hit a free throw to put the Coyotes up by a point.
The Coyote lead hit 10 points three times in the fourth quarter, the last time on a steal and score by Ricks with 40 seconds left. Free throws by Tylieea Wallace (SO/Overland Park, Kan.) secured the win for the Coyotes.
Showman was pleased with his team's performance on the road, coming back and getting the win in a tough environment, and setting the stage for Wesleyan's many road adventures in the month of January.
"It's big for us since we are on the road so much in January. We just have to stick with our approach of one day at a time and one game at a time, and that's what it has to be," he said. "It doesn't matter where we go or who we are playing, that has to be our approach."
Five players reached double figures in scoring for the Coyotes, led by 17 from Hill. Ricks had 15, Angel Lee (SO/Grandview, Mo.) and Stephens had 11 each and Bowman had 10. KWU finished 26 of 56 from the field for 46.4 percent and were 20 of 25 at the line for 80 percent. Stephens led the way with eight rebounds for the Coyotes, while Hill had seven.
The Coyotes return home on Wednesday to take on Southwestern at 6 p.m. at Mabee Arena.