There's just something that Kelcey Hinz (SR/Whitewater, Kan.) likes about facing the Sterling College Warriors.
Some of Hinz's best outings as a Kansas Wesleyan Coyote have come against the Warriors. There's the 31 point, school record 25 rebound game in January 2020 in Sterling, And then there was her performance Thursday night - scoring 28 points and grabbing 24 rebounds, helping the Coyotes to a 78-75 upset win of No. 8 ranked and previously unbeaten Sterling at Mabee Arena.
Kelcey Hinz came to play tonight," Kansas Wesleyan coach Ryan Showman said. "She had a really big game, she was just there, cleaning up shots and posting up hard and finishing. Against a great team like Sterling, we needed a performance like that and we got it."
Gabby Mureeba (JR/Allen, Texas) also played a huge role for the Coyotes tonight, adding 21 points, including a pair of fourth quarter triples that sparked Wesleyan's charge back from a 10, and then 11-point deficit over the final four minutes of regulation.
"That's not her specialty," Showman said of Mureeba. "She's a drive to the basket kind of player, but she knew she needed to make some plays and she stepped up and did it. She's really been huge for us to start the season."
Mureeba's first 3 got the Coyotes within seven after Sterling had taken a 65-55 lead with six minutes, left and the second came with Sterling leading 69-58 with 4:30 to go.
Hinz got the Coyotes within five with a three-point play and added two more free throws with 2:32 left that made it 69-66 in favor of Sterling. LaMyah Ricks (SO/Shawnee Mission, Kan.) then scored to get the Coyotes within a point, capping a 10-0 run by the Coyotes.
Sterling stopped the run on Emmiley Hendrixson's three-point play that gave the Warriors a 72-68 lead with 1:10 left, but the Coyotes pressed again, getting within two on Ricks' free throws with 46 seconds left and then Hinz tied it with a bucket with 5.6 seconds left making it 72-all.
The Coyotes never trailed in overtime, even though Sterling tied it at 79-all before the Coyotes scored the next five points to take an 84-79 lead with 19 seconds left. Amanda Hill (SR/Rossville, Kan.) hit a free throw with 10 seconds left, and Hinz blocked a shot in the lane with 0.2 seconds left to seal the win.
"We know Sterling is a great team and it's going to be a 40-minute game. We just kept talking, even when they made their run late in the third, we just kept talking, one possession at a time, and going into the fourth we said that was their run, now it's time for our run," Showman said. "I felt that fourth quarter was just one possession at a time, I am just so proud of them, you have to give all the credit to them. I couldn't be prouder of this win tonight."
Sterling led by a point at 43-42 with five minutes left in the third quarter, but finished the period on a 17-7 run that gave the Warriors a 60-49 lead after a quarter. Sterling briefly led by 13 at 60-47 before LaMyah Ricks scored just before the buzzer.
Out of the gates it was a contest that everyone was looking for. Wesleyan led 8-4 in the first after back to back 3-pointers by Amanda Hill and Ricks, and after Sterling got within a point, Hinz scored four straight to make it 12-7 in favor of the Coyotes.
Wesleyan led 16-11 after free throws by Hill, but Sydney Bangert hit a 3-pointer to get Sterling within two before Mureeba scored just before the end of the first. KWU led 18-14 after a quarter.
A 3 by Catherine Bowman (FR/Bucklin, Kan.) put the Coyotes up nine at 23-14 with 9:15 left in the second, but seven straight from Sterling got the Warriors within two at 23-21.
Wesleyan answered right back with its own 7-0 run to retake a nine point margin at 30-21 with five minutes to go in the half.
A 15-4 run by Sterling to close the second gave the Warriors a 36-34 lead at the break.
Sterling got 25 points from Hendrixson and 23 from Bailey Albright and 15 points and 13 rebounds from Taya Wilson, before Wilson fouled out with 3:44 left in the fourth. Sterling was 33 of 83 from the field for 39.8 percent.
Amanda Hill added 18 for the Coyotes and Ricks had 11 as the Coyotes were 31 of 76 shooting for 40.8 percent and 17 of 21 at the free throw line for 81 percent.
It's another quick bounce back for the Coyotes, as KWU heads to Hillsboro on Saturday to take on Tabor.
"I told the team to enjoy this one tonight, but we've got to wake up tomorrow and turn the page and get ready for a tough Tabor team on the road," Showman said. "We are going to have to be ready to play, we are going to have to find a way, it's our fourth in seven days. I am so excited to get back to work tomorrow."