Lopers Overcome 18-2 Second Half Run by Tigers; “Super Senior” Class Finishes 8-3 at Gross
Kearney, Neb. – Redshirt junior point guard Sarah Schmitt hit a driving layup with 8.8 seconds left and redshirt senior forward Shiloh McCool played solid defense in the waning seconds to help No. 19 Nebraska Kearney get past rival Fort Hays State, 53-52, Saturday afternoon in Gross Memorial Coliseum. The Lopers (16-3, 9-2) are now 8-3 on their rivals homecourt since the start of the 2018-19 season. That includes four wins over the Tigers (13-6, 8-3) who've now dropped two in a row at home. "Ball goes in; sometimes the ball doesn't go in but we were able to get a stop there when we needed it," said UNK assistant coach Devin Eighmey on the KRVN Radio post-game show. "We just stayed in the moment and that's hard to do. Sometimes it goes your way and sometimes it doesn't. This was a great team win." UNK held a 13-point lead in the first half and was up 44-32 with 5:17 left in the third before the Tigers swung the momentum in a big way. Thanks to some Loper foul trouble, turnovers and timely shots, Hays went on an 18-2 run over the next 11 minutes to grab its first lead of the day at 50-46. McCool (Pleasant Hill, Ia.) converted a paint bucket and then super senior Klaire Kirsch (Rapid City, S.D.) made a transition layup to square things at 50 with 2:58 left. After seeing the Tigers miss two shots on its next possession, UNK got an offensive rebound and subsequent free throw from McCool to regain the lead. Hays could've gone ahead the next time down the floor but missed two freebies. The Lopers had a golden opportunity to go ahead by three but two paint shots didn't drop. Hays took advantage as 6-3 sophomore post Olivia Hollenbeck recorded a putback layup with 32 seconds remaining. Last year in three games vs. the Tigers, Schmitt shot 77% from the field to score 29 points. With the shot clock winding down this time, she drove in front right wing and made a layup. The Iowa native finished 7 of 11 from the field (2 of 2 threes) and 2 of 2 at the line to reach her output while playing a team-best 37 minutes. "We put ourselves in that opportunity to be in that situation. There is a run there (for Hays) … we withstood that," said Eighmey. "We had a great start to the game and were really in good rhythm." Hays still had plenty of time to go-ahead and not surprisingly went to redshirt sophomore forward Katie Wagner. However, McCool was strong in the lane and forced her to take a tough fadeaway 14-footer that hit the front of the room. Redshirt junior guard Trinity Law (Brandon, S.D.) grabbed the rebound with 0.2 left on the clock to secure the win. UNK finished with a 40-30 rebounding advantage, went 7 of 19 from downtown and held an eighth straight foe under 56 points. The Tigers did take advantage of 17 Loper turnovers as well as a 4 of 12 effort at the line by UNK. Besides Schmitt's heroics, McCool (11 rebounds, 10 points) had her 14th career double double, Kirsch had 10 boards, four points and two blocks with redshirt sophomore reserve Meg Burns (Ankeny, Ia.) hitting two threes and providing good defense off the bench. "In the final five minutes we were able to get crucial stops and scores and able to withstand some foul trouble," said Eighmey. Central Oklahoma grad transfer Clary Donica had 12 points off the bench to pace the Tigers. Wagner (11) was the only other Tiger in double digits but was held to a 4 of 13 effort from the field. Hollenbeck (nine rebounds, eight points) did get close to a double double. UNK heads to Emporia State on Wednesday night. The Hornets (9-8, 4-7) have lost six in a row after an 86-69 drubbing at nationally-ranked Missouri Southern today.
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