Sunday, Feb. 07, 2010

Rival Jewell routs ice-cold MNU women

For the opening 11 minutes and change, MidAmerica Nazarene's women limited visiting William Jewell to two points Saturday night at Bell Family Arena in the Cook Center.

But the ice-cold Pioneers could scarcely take advantage of their defensive prowess and the Cardinals' own shooting struggles, which included a zero-for-10 start from the field and five missed three-pointers.

MNU led only 10-2 when Jewell's offense started finally found a gear.

Trailing 16-15 at the break, the Cardinals really starting humming halfway through the second half and pulled away for a 60-42 victory.

“We weren't any good offensively all night,” Pioneers coach Bill Olin said. “We couldn't shoot. We shot 26 percent and we didn't execute plus we turned it over 26 times. It was just an offensive disaster.”

MNU was unable to separate in the first half despite holding Jewell below 22 percent from the field and forcing 14 turnovers.

The Pioneers' 19.2-percent shooting clip, 12 turnovers of their own and a 29-19 deficit on the boards were the primary problems.

“Those are the things that have been messing us up all year — turnovers, poor offense and the inability to block out — and that's what happened again,” Olin said. “It ruined really a good defensive effort for most of the game.”

Senior Bethany Schwab connected on the first of her four second-half threes a few minutes after halftime, giving MNU a 23-20 lead at the time.

But Jewell, 16-6, answered with back-to-back threes by senior Jessica Stewart and sophomore Katie Bond, which kicked off a 33-7 surge by the Cardinals over the next minutes.

“It just all fell apart,” Olin said.

Hillary Adams scored 15 of her game-best 19 points during the run, including a blow-by drive past a stand-still Pioneers defense for an uncontested layup to finish the game-clinching sequence.

The only MNU player to reach double figures, Schwab finished with 14 points.

Senior Bethany Rexroth scored seven, which is 11 below her average, and added a team-high nine rebounds, while senior Kristin Malone also scored seven. Junior Beth Keeley led all players with five assists and five steals.

The Pioneers, 12-11, have lost three of their last four games and slipped to sixth at 7-6 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference standings, three games out of playoff position.

“We've lost to good teams, but we need to start winning some games,” Olin said. “February is about winning games. We need to start doing that, and I think the girls will be up to it.”

The good news is that five of the remaining seven conference opponents currently sit below MNU in the standings, so a winning spurt is possible and, perhaps, even likely.

“They have to show their character. What are we made of?” Olin said. “We still need to get better and correct the things we've talked about, but it's up to them to rise up, to not quit, which I know they won't, and to not lose confidence. That's a big thing: We have to continue to believe that if we stick together, we can get this done.”

WILLIAM JEWELL 60, MIDAMERICA NAZARENE 42

William Jewell (16-6, 8-3 Heart): Erica Ferguson 3-14 0-0 6, Hillary Adams 5-14 8-8 19, Jessica Stewart 3-6 0-2 8, Katie Bond 4-10 0-0 9, Brandie Roberts 3-12 1-4 7, Holly Switzer 1-2 0-0 2, Ashley Patton 0-3 1-4 1, Haley Stockton 0-0 0-0 0, Courtney McCartney 3-4 2-3 8. Totals 22-65 12-21 60.

MidAmerica Nazarene (12-11, 7-6 Heart): Heather Cunard 1-3 0-0 3, Bethany Rexroth 2-5 3-5 7, Beth Keeley 1-6 2-2 4, Hadleigh Meek 1-12 0-0 3, Kristin Malone 3-9 0-0 7, Kerri Zynen 0-0 0-0 0, Lindsey Sprague 0-5 2-2 2, Bethany Schwab 5-9 0-0 14, Alyssa Chisam 0-0 0-0 0, Kristie Tiegreen 1-3 0-0 2, Sophia Stockton 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 14-52 7-11 42.

Halftime: MNU 16-15. Three-point goals: WJC 4-17 (Stewart 2-3, Bond 1-2, Adams 1-6, Patton 0-1, Ferguson 0-5), MNU 7-29 (Schwab 4-8, Cunard 1-2, Meek 1-5, Malone 1-7, Keeley 0-2, Sprague 0-5). Rebounds: WJC 50 (Roberts 12), MNU 37 (Rexroth 9). Assists: WJC 13 (Adams, Roberts 4), MNU 10 (Keeley 5). Turnovers: WJC 19, MNU 26.

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