Kansas Wesleyan Women's Basketball improved to 2-0 in the Kansas Conference with a convincing 97-64 win over the McPherson College Bulldogs on Wednesday night at Mabee Arena.
"We were ready to play. We were locked in," Wesleyan coach Ryan Showman said. "I thought we had two really good days of practice and preparation and we were ready to go. The starters set the tone and people came off the bench and keep the momentum going.
One of those key bench players was senior sharpshooter Jill Stephens. Stephens went 4-4 from 3-point range in the first quarter and added a free throw, scoring 13 points in the period as the Coyotes jumped out to a 29-12 lead.
"I thought Jill Stephens was phenomenal off the bench in that first half, hitting a bunch of big shots for us and extended the lead," Showman said.
Both teams struggled in the second quarter, but the Coyotes picked things up in the last two minutes. McPherson had cut the lead to nine thanks to a 9-0 run when Wesleyan responded.
Showman called a timeout midway through McPherson's run to refocus the team.
"There were some challenges issued in the timeout. I thought the response was great," he said. "It was what you would expect from a veteran team. We came out and closed things out heading to half time and I think that was really important."
The Coyotes closed the half on an 8-1 run pushing the lead back out to 16 at half time.
Five straight points by Catherine Bowman halfway through the third pushed KWU's lead out over 20 points for the first time.
Kourtney Kaufman's 3-pointer just before the third quarter horn gave KWU a 71-44 lead.
Another Kaufman triple got the difference over 30 for the first time with seven minutes left at 81-50.
Wesleyan shot lights out in the first quarter (10 of 12 for 83 percent) and in the third as well (9 of 14 for 64.3 percent) on the way to shooting 31 of 65 from the field for the game for 47.7 percent. The Coyotes hit 14 3-pointers, going 14 of 37 from deep.
Stephens had 16 to lead all scorers in the game, and another balanced output by the Coyotes. Bowman and LaMyah Ricks added 11 each. Paige Chauncey, Angel Lee and Odessa Ozuna had nine each for the Coyotes. Jocelyn Hall had 12 rebounds for the Coyotes, who out rebounded McPherson 48-42.