Courtesy of Midland Athletics
FREMONT, Neb. – A first-half deficit of nearly 20 points proved to be too much for Midland University as they fell to the College of Saint Mary at home, 82-72, on Wednesday night. The setback drops the Warriors to 8-18 overall and 4-15 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC). With the win, the Flames improve to 12-13 overall and keep their conference tournament hopes alive with a 6-13 mark in the conference.
Hot-shooting by CSM propelled them to an 18-point lead in the second quarter. Trailing 35-17 with 6:44 until the break, the Warriors began to chip away at the deficit in front of their home crowd. A 14-9 run to close the quarter made the halftime score 46-31 in favor of the Flames.
Midland’s three-point shooting started to heat up in the third. After shooting 4-for-15 in the first half, they drilled home five from long-range in the third.
Defensively, the Warriors also made an adjustment inside as they began to double-team the Flames’ Sidney Anderson, who had 12 points in the first 20 minutes.
Midland opened the half hitting four of threes during a 12-4 run, pulling them with single digits for the first time since the midway point of the first quarter. Emma Shepard the three triples while Peyton Wingert connected on the other.
The Flames’ lead continued to dip as the Warriors switched to driving the ball after the defense extended out to the arc. Heading into the final quarter, CSM clung to a 59-55 lead.
The Flames’ began the fourth aggressive on their offensive end as they attacked the basket, drawing fouls against the Warriors. They hit 3-of-4 shots from the foul line before their long-range attack ignited with back-to-back threes by Alyssa Marsh-Contreras to make it 68-57 with just over six minutes on the game clock.
Down the stretch, Midland did all they could to reel CSM back in but each basket was met with a response. The Flames closed out the game at the foul line, hitting 4-of-5 in the final minute for the 82-72 victory.
Leading the way for the Warriors was Wingert. She had 26 points and 13 rebounds, recording her 10th double-double of the season. She nearly registered the first triple-double of her career, finishing three assists shy with seven.
Emma Shepard had 18 points, going 4-of-5 from behind the arc. Prusa also reached double digits with 15 points to go with 6 rebounds and a game-high 3 blocks.
“We started really flat and they got out to a big lead,” commented head coach Shawn Gilbert post-game. “We were able to reel them in but need to be more consistent the entire game. At this level, in the GPAC, you can’t have scoring droughts like we did tonight. In the second half, it came down to a couple of possessions and they hit some clutch threes. I thought our kids played really well in the third quarter. We just didn’t shoot it great in the fourth.”
Midland (8-18, 4-15 GPAC) will close out their home schedule on Saturday afternoon when they host (RV) Dakota Wesleyan (21-6, 13-6 GPAC). The two teams will tip-off inside the Wikert Event Center on February 12 at 2:00 p.m. After the game, the Warriors will honor this year’s graduating class.
