Kansas Wesleyan Athletics
Ryan Showman was not pleased with his team's efforts in the first quarter of Wednesday night's game against Avila at Mabee Arena.
The second quarter though, was a different story.
Wesleyan outscored Avila 28-8 in the second quarter, rallying from a 25-10 deficit in the first quarter, and held on down the stretch for a 72-69 win.
"I have to give a lot of credit to Avila in the first quarter and they came out and just punched us in the face. We did not adjust to their speed very well," Showman said. "It's so hard, like with a team like Sterling, to simulate that in practice. It took us every bit of 10 minutes to adjust to that and when we stopped throwing them the ball and throwing our own teammates the ball that's when some great things happened."
The Coyotes suffered from 11 first quarter turnovers and struggled with Avila's full court press. KWU was also just 4 of 14 from the field in the first 10 minutes.
Wesleyan (18-8, 14-7 KCAC) trailed 8-6 with seven and a half left in the quarter, but a 6-0 spurt by Avila gave the Eagles a 14-6 lead with just under six minutes to go. After Tylieea Wallace (FR/Overland Park, Kan.)'s bucket with 4:10 to go cut it to six, Avila scored five straight and would push the lead out to 15 on a 3 by Tiffany Davenport with 30 seconds to go in the quarter.
Showman said that the Coyotes got back to basics in the second quarter, which fueled Wesleyan's comeback in the second 10 minutes.
"We went back to middle school basketball camp, basically. Use your ball fakes, turn and face, meet passes, and then we were able to get stuff," he said. "It was things we have talked about a hundred times, where we get in that moment, but that was the conversation we had between quarters."
Wesleyan scored the first 10 points of the second quarter capped by Amanda Hill (SR/Rossville, Kan.)'s free throws with 6:45 to go in the half that made it 25-20. The teams traded free throws before Avila pushed its lead back out to 11 with 4:38 to go at 33-22. Then the Coyotes made their big run.
The Coyotes scored the last 16 points of the quarter, holding Avila scoreless the rest of the quarter, while building a 38-33 lead at the break.
Showman was pleased with his team's effort, which exceeded his expectations.
"I wanted us to cut that lead in half. You cut the lead in half in the second, you make up the difference in the third and you go in at 0-0 in the fourth," he said. "As a coach, that's what I thought we were going to do, and the players had other ideas.
"Sometimes they say, 'Okay coach that's fine, we got you', and they went ahead and just got it all back, and then some in the second quarter."
Kelcey Hinz (SR/Whitewater, Kan.) had six points, two assists and two blocks in the quarter, but it was the Coyotes limiting their mistakes that made the difference in the quarter, and forcing Avila out of its comfort zone.
"It came down to not turning the ball over. We took away their transition points and we took away their points off turnovers, and when made them have to execute in the half court, we were really, really good," he said. "We knew we could do that. We talked about that for two days. It just took us 10 minutes to get adjusted to that."
The momentum carried over to the third quarter, as the Coyotes built as much as a 46-36 lead on a bucket by LaMyah Ricks (SO/Shawnee Mission, Kan.) with 6:38 left in the period. Defense was again big for the Coyotes, holding Avila to just 26.7 shooting (4 of 15) in the quarter. Hinz had four blocks in the quarter.
Wesleyan led 48-38 with five minutes left, but Avila cut it to four with 3:06 left on free throws by Matti Morgan, Avila's star player, who had 25 points, but needed 27 shots to get there. Tiffany Davenport led all scorers with 27 points on 12 of 21 shooting for the Eagles.
Davenport's triple just before the end of the third made it a four point game after three quarters at 52-48.
Showman knew that Morgan would be a factor in the game, but if the Coyotes could limit at least one of Avila's other two top players (Davenport and Ainsley Tolson), they'd give themselves an opportunity to win the game.
"(Morgan) is about as good of a player as we have ever had in our league and then when you throw in Ainsley Tolson and Tiffany Davenport, they're a good team," he said. "Thankfully we were able to limit one of them (Tolson – 8 points)."
"We knew if we could limit one of their top three, then we were going to have a great chance of winning. But when all three of them are hitting like they have so many times this year, it makes It really tough to beat them. They're a really good team."
Avila (17-9, 15-7 KCAC) cut it to two points with 8:18 left, but the Coyotes built a 60-54 lead on Amanda Hill's score with 6:23 to go. Five straight by Avila got the Eagles within a point at 60-59, but again the resilient Coyotes stepped up scoring the next nine to get the lead back out to 10 at 69-59 on free throws by Hinz with 2:56 left.
An 8-0 run by Avila cut Wesleyan's lead to 2 at 69-67 with 1:07 left but the Coyotes would hit 3 of 4 free throws down the stretch that helped seal the win.
Ricks' free throw with 12.8 seconds left gave Wesleyan the 72-69 lead.
Avila called timeout to advance the ball, and Morgan's game-tying 3-pointer would miss and the Eagles could not get another shot off before the final horn.
Hinz led the Coyotes with 18 points and added nine rebounds and eight blocks, while Ricks added 15 points and Amanda Hill had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Freshmen Catherine Bowman (FR/Bucklin, Kan.), Angel Roman (FR/Jacksonville, Fla.), Chevelle Ralstin (FR/Elkhart, Kan.) and Tylieea Wallace combined for 21 points. Wallace had six rebounds and two blocks.
Wesleyan shot 45.6 percent for the game (26 of 57) and dominated the rebounding totals 44-27.
The Coyotes are back in action on Saturday in Lindsborg at Bethany. The Swedes were stunned by Saint Mary 67-63 on Wednesday in Leavenworth.
"This team is resilient, they're gritty, they're tough," Showman said. "It's going to be a 40-minute game when you play us and I am really proud of the way we battled back and got the win."