After leading by 12 at halftime, the Peru State College (PSC) Bobcat women were dominated by the visiting Culver-Stockton College (C-SC) Wildcats in the second stanza. The Wildcat women outscored PSC 44 to 27 to capture a 63-58 win in Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) action.
Culver-Stockton improved to 4-8 in the HAAC and evened their season record at 12-12. With the loss, the Bobcats remain on the bottom of the HAAC with a 2-10 mark and are 2-22 overall, suffering their third straight loss.
continued on her hot shooting from beyond the arc as she hit a trey to start the game with under 30 seconds gone. The Wildcats countered with a three to tie it up at 3-3 before PSC went on a 12-0 run taking a 15-3 lead at the 14:31 mark.
A 4-0 C-SC run made it 15-7 before
Natasha Moss (Indianapolis) grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back up making it 17-7 with 12:45 left in the first stanza. Another field goal by Potter made it a 12-point margin before the Wildcats came back with a hoop of their own putting it at 19-9.
A free throw by Candace Simmons
(Sargent), another field goal by Moss, a field goal by
Courtney Ward (Bartlesville, Okla.), and another trey by Potter stretched the Bobcat lead to 27-9 with just under eight minutes to go in the half.
After getting their largest lead of the game at 18, the 'Cats went a little cold as Culver-Stockton went on a 10-3 run making it 30-19 with under two minutes left in the stanza.
A free throw by Moss made it 31-19 that was the score at the half.
The Wildcats hit a bucket and made a free throw to start the second half and get it within single digits at 31-22. Sydney Young
(Omaha) made one of two free throws to score the first point for the 'Cats in the second half which was later followed by a bucket by Ward to get it back to the 12-point lead at 34-22.
Culver-Stockton then went on a 9-0 run cutting it to 34-31 before Potter hit a field goal giving PSC a five-point lead at the 15:03 mark. Two Wildcat free throws made it 36-33 with 14:44 to go.
Several miscues by both teams cost each opportunities to score, but with just under 13 minutes to go, C-SC hit another hoop to cut the deficit to one at 36-35.
Another hoop by Potter put PSC up 38-35 before the Wildcats countered with a bucket of their own making it 38-37.
On their next possession, Culver-Stockton took their first lead of the game going up 39-38 with 11:09 left in the game. The Bobcat coaching staff immediately called a timeout to regroup.
Two free throws by Moss put PSC back on top at 40-39 at 10:38 to go. C-SC came charging down the court hitting the bucket and completed the old-fashioned three-point play to give the Wildcats a 42-40 lead, their largest lead of the game. Following a Bobcat miss, the Wildcats hit another one making it 44-40.
Jasmine Tate (Fayetteville, N.C.) hit one of two free throws getting PSC back within three at 44-41 with 8:24 left in the game. Following a Wildcat miss, Moss hit a bucket getting the Bobcats back within one at 44-43.
A Bobcat foul gave the Wildcats an opportunity to extend their lead and they hit both free throws to go back up 46-43.
A three by
Karlee Stuart (McClave, Colo.) tied it up at 46 each at the 7:20 mark. The teams then traded buckets several times with PSC taking a 54-51 lead on another Stuart trey before C-SC knotted it up at 54-54 and immediately the Wildcats took a timeout.
A Wildcat bucket was countered by a Ward hoop to tie it again at 56-56. C-SC countered with another bucket to go up 58-56 before a Ward free throw made it 58-57 with just over two minutes left in the game. Culver-Stockton got another hoop to take a 60-57 lead before Stuart hit one free throw to get PSC within two with 1:01 left to go.
A free throw by C-SC made it 61-58 with just under a minute left in the game. A Bobcat offensive rebound was followed by a PSC timeout to set up the offensive play. A shot clock violation gave the Wildcats the ball back forcing PSC to foul with 17.5 left. Culver-Stockton made both giving them their largest lead of the game at 63-58. The Bobcats could not put anything else together and the Wildcats captured the season sweep.
Team Statistics
The Wildcats were hot in the second half from the floor making 16 of 26 shots for 61.5% after a miserable first half where they shot only 18.5%. Overall, C-SC was 21 of 53 for 39.6%. From behind the arc, the Wildcats were four of 15 for 26.7%. At the line, the Wildcats were 17 of 22 of 77.3%.
Peru State was 20 of 56 for 35.7% from the field, including five of 12 three pointers for 41.7%. At the charity stripe, PSC was 13 of 22 for 59.1%.
A big difference in the game was rebounding as the Wildcats grabbed 14 more boards than PSC, 42-28. Both teams committed too many turnovers with C-SC having 25 while PSC had 21.
GAME BOX SCORE
Individual Statistics
Potter finished as the game's leading scorer with 18 making seven of 15 from the floor, including two of seven from behind the arc. Potter added three steals, two rebounds, and two assists.
Moss also finished in double figures with 12 points and grabbed five rebounds and four steals. Ward finished the game as PSC's leading rebounding with six and added three steals and one block.
Upcoming Games
On Thursday, Feb. 9, the Bobcats will be travelling to Baldwin City, Kan., to take on the Baker University Wildcats. The HAAC game is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m.
Next Saturday, Feb. 11, Peru State will be at home hosting the Missouri Valley College Vikings in a HAAC game scheduled to start at 2 p.m. On Saturday, the PSC National Alumni Association will be hosting its annual chili feed that will begin at halftime of the women's game.
The following Thursday, Feb. 16, PSC will again be at home hosting the Benedictine College Ravens at 5:30 p.m.
