Law Hits Five Big Threes, Betty with Game-Sealing Block
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Kearney, Neb. – Super senior forward Elisa Backes blocked a last second three-point attempt to help No. 22/26 Nebraska Kearney hold off No. 7/11 Missouri Southern State, 54-51, Saturday afternoon at the Health & Sports Center. UNK, Division II's top defensive outfit, improves to 15-3 (8-2) while the Lions fall to 12-4 (4-4). They've now lost three in a row and four of five. "They are a good team. In a lot of ways, they are like us especially defensively. They are super solid and you have a hard time of getting uncontested shots at the rim," said UNK head coach Carrie Eighmey. "Thankfully for us today, we shot the ball really well from the three-point line (8 of 19). That helped us stretch the floor a little bit and allowed us late in the game to get some touches inside." The Lopers shot out of the gates to grab leads of 22-14, 30-19 and 37-29. Junior guard Trinity Law (Brandon, SD) hit four early triples as part of this barrage with the Loper Blue Wall limiting MoSo to 9 of 29 first half shooting (31%). However, 2022 MIAA Player of the Year Lacy Stokes hit two threes to close the half, helping her and her team get going. "She is good at a lot of things so you kind of pick-your-poison. We knew she's probably going to hit a couple but you want to make sure you're guarding the other players really well and not allowing her and others to be efficient scoring," said Eighmey. "It took her 19 shots to get 16 points so we feel good about our effort there." Missouri Southern out scored UNK 26-17 after the break and slowly chipped away at that 18-point hole, getting the Lopers into some foul trouble and slightly improving from the field. They trailed by eight to start the fourth quarter and were down by just one possession before South Dakota super senior wing Klaire Kirsch knocked down a triple to make it 52-46 with 5:20 to play. A southpaw, Stokes hit a three to make it a 53-51 game with 2:37 remaining but then missed a go-ahead triple soon after. The Lions had another chance to tie or take the lead but missed again. Elkhorn post Brooke Carlson sunk 1 of 2 free throws to finish the scoring and give the Lopers a one possession lead with 41 seconds left. After some timeouts and ball advancement, MoSo inbounded the ball but couldn't get Stokes a good look. She was forced to pass the ball to senior Amaya Johns whose left wing three was easily swatted away by Backes (Salina, Kan.). Johns grabbed the rebound but time expired before she could get another shot off. "We had an offensive stall out there and not because our possessions were terrible. We just missed some shots," said Eighmey. "We also had some turnovers late in the third, early in the fourth. You turn it over against these guys and they'll take advantage. They took several more shots than we did (60-45) so you we had to contest them." UNK out shot MSSU by almost 10 percentage points and held the Lions 24 points below its season scoring average. The Lopers were also plus five on the glass and let MSSU go to the line only 10 times. Finally, eight players scored between 2-15 points. Law fouled out late and tallied a team-best 15 points on 5 of 7 triple shooting with Kirsch recording her second straight and 20th career double double (11 rebounds, 10 points). In the front court, Iowa redshirt junior Shiloh McCool had 12 points and nine rebounds with Backes and Carlson combining for eight points, six caroms and five blocks. For MSSU, Stokes had a team-best 16 on 5 of 19 shooting while also supplying four assists and four rebounds. Six-three post Madi Stokes worked around foul trouble to have eight points and eight rebounds with six others in scoring column. UNK heads to rival Fort Hays State next Saturday. The Tigers (13-5, 8-2) were blasted by Pittsburg State today, 87-65.
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