Lopers to Face Pitt or MoSo Saturday at Six
Kearney, Neb. – Seven players scored between five and 16 points and No. 7 Nebraska Kearney held Northwest Missouri State to 23 percent shooting in a 65-43 win Thursday night in an MIAA Tournament quarterfinal game in Kansas City. The Lopers (28-3) win a 15th straight game, beat the Bearcats in this event for a second straight year and tie the school-record for wins. The 1996-97 Lopers also posted a 28-3 mark. UNK plays again Saturday at 6 p.m. against the winner of Pittsburg State (22-6) and Missouri Southern (24-6). Those two rivals play Friday at 6 p.m.
“They did a great job. Effort was great and they really took in the scout and we were able to do what we needed,” said UNK assistant coach Devin Eighmey on the KRVN Radio post-game show. “It’s a good start and big for us to get an off day tomorrow.”
To beat Northwest (15-15) for a ninth straight time, UNK used a 12-2 run to close the first quarter and never looked back. The spurt made it 19-9 and featured a buzzer beating three from point guard Sarah Schmitt (Swisher, Ia.) and four points from senior reserve post Brooke Carlson (Elkhorn). The 'Cats only glimmer of hope came at the end of the half when then scored five straight and then hit two free throws to start the third quarter. That made it 36-25 Lopers but the deficit would only grow as Northwest ended the night just 12 of 52 (4 of 18 threes) from the field. UNK also was plus 10 on the boards and got 15 bench points. The 23 percent effort is the lowest for a Loper foe this year with this the 12th game UNK has held an opponent under 50 points. The Blue & Gold ranks fourth in Division II in scoring defense at 51.8.
“They played really well at our place (66-65 UNK win). We were able to use that film and learn from it,” said Eighmey. “They played well and shot it well yesterday. It’s different when you get a live look at someone.”
The always-balanced attack was paced tonight by redshirt sophomore Meg Burns (Ankeny, Ia.) who went 4 for 4 from downtown to tally a team-high 16. She has been in double digits in six of the last nine games. Next, Carlson (10, six boards) haunted the 'Cats again with Kansas super senior forward Elisa Backes knocking down three triples to score 11. Finally, South Dakota senior wing Klaire Kirsch had another all-around effort; nine rebounds, six points, six assists and six steals. The theft tally is one off her career-best effort. Molly Hartnett, Caely Kesten and Emma Atwood combined for 36 of Northwest's points but needed 34 shots to do so. The eighth-seeded ‘Cats were coming off a 70-54 win Wednesday night over Newman.
“The first one is always hard. Whomever we play is going to be a quality opponent,” said Eighmey.
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