Backes & Burns Have Big Nights as First-Place UNK Wins 10th in a Row
Kearney, Neb. – Four players scored in double figures and No. 11 Nebraska Kearney flashed its patent defense down the stretch in a 60-57 win over No. 10/15 Central Missouri Thursday night at the Health & Sports Center. UNK (23-3, 16-2) pushes its win streak to 10, its home win streak to 17 and ends a five-game losing streak to the Jennies (18-3, 14-3). The Blue & Gold now sits a full-game ahead of Missouri Western (15-3) for first place in the MIAA standings. "We fully expected it to be kind of a back-and-forth game. It's not a team you're going to blow out by 20 or 30 points," said UNK head coach Carrie Eighmey. "We each had our runs throughout the game." The Lopers led by 10 late in the first half but UCM countered with a 22-5 run encompassing about a 10-minute stretch to grab its biggest lead of the night at 41-34. The Jennies outscored UNK 37-22 in the second and third quarters as they made 15 shots (two threes) from the field. "We got off to a fast start but they kind of settled in and fought their way back. We then had another good run and then it was back-and-forth," said Eighmey. "They are a good team and we knew they would be able to make some plays down the stretch. But we were able to also." A 22-14 UNK fourth quarter featured nine points from forward Elisa Backes (Salina, Kan.) who now ranks 10th in school-history in points (1,503). She hit two deep left wing threes and then sunk one of her patented top of the key triples to make it 58-53 with 1:18 remaining. The bucket came after a Backes steal, one of 10 Loper thefts on the night. South Dakota super senior Klaire Kirsch yanked the ball out of UCM star Brooke Littrell's hands a minute earlier, leading to a Shiloh McCool (Pleasant Hill, Ia.) layup and a 55-53 lead. "We executed some things really, really well down the stretch on both ends of the floor," said Eighmey. "We were able to get a couple of key stops in those last few minutes." UCM still had a chance to tie things at 59 after Littrell (22 points, 12 rebounds) made two free throws and hit a shot in the lane. However, on an inbounds play with eight seconds remaining, UNK blew things up and the Jennies had to throw a long pass in from the right wing. Instead of hitting Littrell in the paint, the high pass sailed out of bounds. The Lopers hit 1 of 2 free throws to finish the scoring. "It helps when you have a defense that you can count on, especially when you need one or two stops," said Eighmey. "That's the thing we hang our hat on … making sure that we always defend and get rebounds. We also have a lot of experience in those moments. That definitely makes a coach feel better about things." Now 5-3 in games decided by five points or less, UNK was out rebounded by eight and out shot by three percentage points but committed five fewer turnovers and hit seven more threes. Iowa redshirt junior Meg Burns had a career-high 16 points thanks to 3 of 4 three shooting with Backes (4 of 9) getting hot in the second half to tally 12. Next, Kirsch (10 points, nine rebounds, three steals, three assists) got close to a double double with Iowa redshirt junior point guard Sarah Schmitt at 14 points, eight dimes and five caroms. "We haven't had a ton of success against them (3-13 all-time). They are very well coached, they got really good players and they match us in a physicality and size stand point," said Eighmey. "So we have to find other ways to attack them." Littrell went 7 of 19 from the field and 8 of 8 at the line to reach her game-high point total. She also had eight turnovers. The Jens also got 11 points and four assists from guard Olivia Nelson. UNK hosts Lincoln (5-18, 3-14) on Saturday. The Blue Tigers fell tonight at Fort Hays State, 77-57.
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