Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009

Pioneers women stay perfect, dominate Ottawa

It's hard to imagine a worse start than MidAmerica Nazarene's women's basketball got off to Tuesday night at Bell Family Arena inside the Cook Center.

The Pioneers fell behind 10-0 against Ottawa but scored 42 or the next 52 points, pulling in front 42-25 on a 3-pointer by Kristin Malone early in the second half.

MidAmerica eventually led by as many as 32 points en route to an 85-54 victory.

After a tumultuous offseason with a roster in flux thanks to injuries as well as transfers in and out, the Pioneers weren't entirely sure what to expect from the season.

But a 3-0 start has eased the program's fears somewhat.

“We didn't know what to expect with so many new players, but I am very pleased,” MidAmerica coach Bill Olin said. “You can see we've got a lot of improvement to make, but we're doing some good things and started to get confidence.”

That's especially true on defense.

“The last couple years, it seems like even into the postseason we're struggling with help-side and getting our rotation down on defense,” said Malone, a senior, who scored 17 points with four assists.

Through three games this season, the Pioneers are allowing 51.3 points per game and haven't allowed more than 57 in any single game.

“I'm not sure why the defense has been so good, but Cotton (guard Bethany Schwab) and I were just talking about that last night,” senior center Bethany Rexroth said. “Since I've been here, we've never really had good defense. Even our 33-4 year, our defense was not that great. But this year our defense has really, really come through.”

Rexroth, who blocked three shots, just missed a triple-double with team-highs in points (20), rebounds (12) and assists (7).

The best part of the Pioneers' perfect start is that it's come against a variety of competition.

“We've played three very different teams,” Rexroth said. “Doane is very solid, a lot like us. Park is a little more street ball, a little hectic. Tonight, we faced more of an outside team. Three very different styles of play, but we've handled them all pretty well.”

Lindsey Sprague scored 12 points, matching Malone with four 3-pointers made. She also grabbed five rebounds. Kristie Tiegreen scored 10 points with six rebounds, while Schwab chipped in five assists.

“I'm very happy with how we've started,” Malone said. “This summer was so crazy and our roster was always changing, myself included, but the group we have has so much potential. Good things can come from this group. I'm just so happy that we're 3-0, because honestly I wasn't sure how it was going to go.”

MIDAMERICA NAZARENE 85, OTTAWA 54

Ottawa (1-3): Paige Gibson 4-12 0-2 10, Misty Stone 4-8 8-10 16, Taryn Morris 0-5 0-0 0, Emma Hartzler 3-6 2-2 9, Mallory Mueller 4-12 1-2 10, Jamee Leichtle 0-2 0-0 0, Carrie Black 0-0 0-0 0, Jacqueline Robinson 0-0 0-0 0, Maggie Hasenkamp 0-1 0-0 0, KiKi Smith 0-7 1-2 1, Lauren Buckles 1-6 0-0 2, Myah Sprew 2-6 2-6 6. Totals 18-65 14-24.

MidAmerica Nazarene (3-0): Kristie Tiegreen 5-8 0-0 10, Bethany Rexroth 9-14 2-2 20, Bethany Schwab 1-8 0-0 3, Hadleigh Meek 3-9 2-2 8, Kristin Malone 5-8 3-3 17, Kerri Zynen 0-0 0-0 0, Lindsey Sprague 4-8 0-0 12, Alyssa Chisam 1-2 0-0 3, Sophia Stockton 1-1 0-0 2, Heather Cunard 3-4 0-1 6, Jackee Hill 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 34-64 7-8 85.

Halftime: MNU 35-23. Three-point goals: OU 4-25 (Gibson 2-8, Hartzler 1-3, Mueller 1-3, Hasenkamp 0-1, Leichtle 0-1, Buckles 0-2, Morris 0-2, Smith 0-5), MNU 10-23 (Sprague 4-6, Malone 4-7, Chisam 1-2, Schwab 1-6, Meek 0-2). Rebounds: OU 38 (Sprew 9), MNU 44 (Rexroth 12). Assists: OU 10 (Hartzler 3), MNU 26 (Rexroth 7). Turnovers: OU 12, MNU 12.

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