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PITTSBURG —
The Pittsburg State women fired on all cylinders in the first half of their game Saturday afternoon with the Bearcats of Northwest Missouri State at John Lance Arena and led 56-30 at halftime on the strength of 66.7 percent shooting from the floor and 53.8 percent shooting from 3-point range.
"It was definitely our best first half of the year," Pitt State head coach Lane Lord said. "The last three or four games at home, we struggled coming out of the gate."
Within a few minutes of the second half, the contest became anticlimactic and Pitt State went on to a 88-48 win over Northwest Missouri.
"Defensively, we set a goal of holding them under 22 points (in the second half) and we met that goal," Lord said. Northwest scored 18 after halftime.
Pitt State guards Alexa Bordewick and Drew Roberts said good riddance to any possible shooting slump on Saturday, combining for 27 first-half points on 10-for-14 shooting (each player shot 5-7 before halftime).
Roberts hit four 3-pointers and Bordewick added three, accounting for all seven of Pitt State's first-half treys.
Roberts had 14 first-half points en route to a game-high 20 and Bordewick scored 13 in the half and for the game.
"I definitely want to keep shooting," Roberts said. "I think CT (Courtney Tate) helps me out. When I'm open, she gives me sharp passes."
The Gorillas assisted 18 times on 22 made shots in the first 20 minutes — senior guard Courtney Tate led with seven first-half assists and senior forward Brooke Conley had five, accumulating more assists in one half than some teams do over an entire game.
"Courtney was great," Lord said, "11 assists and one turnover. She averaged over 10 points a game (last season) and we talked to her about being committed to playing defense and passing the ball (this season)."
Tate finished with a career-high 11 assists — one assist short of a Pitt State record held by Megan Reid and Leslie Dudley — and grabbed five rebounds, transcending no points scored.
The Gorillas dished out 26 assists on 33 made baskets or 78.8 percent of their makes came with assists.
Pitt State kept its foot on the accelerator in the second half during a game in which the Gorillas never trailed, scored the first eight points of the game in 1:29 and gained its first lead of 20 points with 8:32 left before halftime.
The Pittsburg State women fired on all cylinders in the first half of their game Saturday afternoon with the Bearcats of Northwest Missouri State at John Lance Arena and led 56-30 at halftime on the strength of 66.7 percent shooting from the floor and 53.8 percent shooting from 3-point range.
"It was definitely our best first half of the year," Pitt State head coach Lane Lord said. "The last three or four games at home, we struggled coming out of the gate."
Within a few minutes of the second half, the contest became anticlimactic and Pitt State went on to a 88-48 win over Northwest Missouri.
"Defensively, we set a goal of holding them under 22 points (in the second half) and we met that goal," Lord said. Northwest scored 18 after halftime.
Pitt State guards Alexa Bordewick and Drew Roberts said good riddance to any possible shooting slump on Saturday, combining for 27 first-half points on 10-for-14 shooting (each player shot 5-7 before halftime).
Roberts hit four 3-pointers and Bordewick added three, accounting for all seven of Pitt State's first-half treys.
Roberts had 14 first-half points en route to a game-high 20 and Bordewick scored 13 in the half and for the game.
"I definitely want to keep shooting," Roberts said. "I think CT (Courtney Tate) helps me out. When I'm open, she gives me sharp passes."
The Gorillas assisted 18 times on 22 made shots in the first 20 minutes — senior guard Courtney Tate led with seven first-half assists and senior forward Brooke Conley had five, accumulating more assists in one half than some teams do over an entire game.
"Courtney was great," Lord said, "11 assists and one turnover. She averaged over 10 points a game (last season) and we talked to her about being committed to playing defense and passing the ball (this season)."
Tate finished with a career-high 11 assists — one assist short of a Pitt State record held by Megan Reid and Leslie Dudley — and grabbed five rebounds, transcending no points scored.
The Gorillas dished out 26 assists on 33 made baskets or 78.8 percent of their makes came with assists.
Pitt State kept its foot on the accelerator in the second half during a game in which the Gorillas never trailed, scored the first eight points of the game in 1:29 and gained its first lead of 20 points with 8:32 left before halftime.
Roberts started with a 3-point bomb on Pitt State's first possession after halftime and by the first timeout, Pitt State already led 63-30 with 17:35 remaining in the rout.
Jeronimus made it 65-30 as she converted a second layup off an alley oop pass and Roberts' sixth 3-pointer gave Pitt State a 68-32 advantage.
The Gorillas led by as many as 42 (74-32) on their way to win No. 20.
Senior post Larissa Richards made her return to the lineup after a four-game absence due to concussion-like symptoms resulting from a knee to the head in the Northeastern State game.
Coming off the bench, at her own request to ease her way back in, Richards scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds in 14 minutes. She made all four shot attempts.
"Just having her back on the floor gave the whole team a lift because they know she's one of our best players," Lord said.
Six Gorillas reached double figures — Roberts 20, Bordewick 13, Conley 12, Lauren Brown 12, Richards 10 and Jeronimus 10.
Brown notched a double-double with her game-high 15 rebounds, as the Gorillas outrebounded the Bearcats by 19, 55-36.
The 2011-2012 edition of the Pitt State women (20-2, 14-1 MIAA) became only the sixth team in school history to win 20 games in a season and became the fastest in school history to reach 20 wins. The 1981-1982, the 1991-1992 and the 1994-1995 Pitt State teams each won 22 games.
The Gorillas play Missouri Southern (7-14, 3-12) on the road Wednesday in the Sonic Trophy Series Game. Pitt State defeated Missouri Southern at home in December.
Around the MIAA on Saturday, Missouri Southern defeated Missouri Western 83-73, Truman handled Southwest Baptist 77-68, Central Missouri defeated Lincoln 67-61, Washburn routed Fort Hays State 75-55 and Emporia State upended Northeastern State 52-42.
No. 12 GORILLAS 88, BEARCATS 48
NORTHWEST MISSOURI (48) — Candace Boeh 4-15 3-4 11, Alexis Boeh 3-7 0-0 6, Abby Henry 2-11 2-4 6, Ashley Thayer 2-5 0-0 6, Shelly Martin 2-5 0-0 5, Tara Roach 0-1 4-4 4, Maggie Marnin 2-5 0-2 4, Emily Hauder 1-1 1-2 4, Ashleigh Nelson 1-6 0-2 2, Meridee Scott 0-4 1-2 1, Annie Mathews 0-5 0-0 0, Courtney Jensen 0-1 0-0 0, Denise McEnaney 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-66 11-20 48.
PITTSBURG STATE (88) — Drew Roberts 7-13 0-0 20, Alexa Bordewick 5-11 0-0 13, Brooke Conley 4-7 4-6 12, Lauren Brown 5-10 2-2 12, Larissa Richards 4-4 2-4 10, Lizzy Jeronimus 4-7 2-2 10, Britnee Foster 2-2 2-3 6, Hailey Roderique 1-1 1-2 3, Morgan Westhoff 1-4 0-0 2, Courtney Tate 0-2 0-0 0, Lisa Elmer 0-2 0-0 0, Sara Molz 0-1 0-0 0, Brigit Hesser 0-1 0-0 0, Amanda Orloske 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 33-66 13-19 88.
Halftime — PSU 56, NWMSU 30. 3-point goals — NWMSU 3-18 (Thayer 2-4, Martin 1-3, Scott 0-3, Henry 0-2, A. Boeh 0-1, Jensen 0-1), PSU 9-26 (Roberts 6-12, Bordewick 3-8, Conley 0-1, Tate 0-1, Elmer 0-1, Molz 0-1, Orloske 0-1, Westhoff 0-1). Rebounds — NWMSU 36 (C. Boeh 7), PSU 55 (Brown 15). Assists — NWMSU 8 (Henry 4), PSU 26 (Tate 11). Turnovers — NWMSU 16, PSU 21. Steals — NWMSU 13, PSU 10. Blocked shots — NWMSU 1, PSU 6. Personal fouls — NWMSU 17, PSU 15. Fouled out — A. Boeh, NWMSU. Technical fouls — none. Attendance — 3,233.
