McPHERSON, Kan. – The Southwestern College women's basketball team was on the road to tussle with the McPherson College Bulldogs on Wednesday evening. The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) foe was able to keep the Moundbuilder three-point attack at bay, holding SC to a 1-of-17 showing from long range in Southwestern's 59-39 road loss to the Bulldogs.

In the opening quarter of the tilt, McPherson was able to leap out to an 11-2 lead in the first three minutes, but both teams stalled at that point, scoring just four points each for the remainder of the frame. The 15-6 Bulldog lead after one frame was the result of poor shooting from both sides across the opening 10 minutes.

Southwestern was a bit better in the second quarter, as they managed an 11-point output before the half. Meanwhile, McPherson put up a 17-point stanza, extending their lead to 15 points at 32-17 at the intermission. Both squads were still struggling, especially from beyond the arc, as the teams combined to make just two three-point shots on 20 combined tries in the opening two periods.

Quarter number three was another six-point differential between the two sides, as the Builders were able to put forth 12 total points to reach 29 for the game. The Bulldogs grabbed 18 more points in the stanza, making their lead 21 points at 50-29 entering the final frame.

With the home squad's second unit in the game in the fourth quarter, Southwestern outscored the Bulldogs by a 10-9 margin. Neither side ended the game shooting better than 33.3% for the game, as that was McPherson's tally, while SC hit just 23.4% of their tries. The Lady Builders concluded the battle with a final tally of 39 points, and fell 59-39 against McPherson.

Denisha Anderson had a standout offensive night in the loss, scoring nearly half of her team's points. She tallied 17 on the evening with a strong 5-of-8 shooting line. Additionally, she went 1-of-3 from long range and sunk the only three-point shot of the night for Southwestern. Kimberly Duhon was the only remaining player on the roster with more than five points, scoring seven in total. She was 2-of-7 from the field and made 3-of-8 from the charity stripe.

Only two assists were tallied by the Lady Builders in the defeat, with Haven Matthews and Hunter Garcia earning those dimes.

Madi Jones led the squad's rebounding efforts, hauling in nine boards in the battle. She was followed by D'Shonda Hunt with seven and Anderson with six. Also, Airalyn Frame had four, while Garcia, Emily McElroy and Heather Chiesi snatched two each.

Kirsten Kizer supplied Southwestern with four steals off the bench in the bout, while Duhon grabbed three and the pair of McElroy and Anderson swiped two each. Matthews and Jones also had a single steal, apiece. The Lady Builders did not block a shot in the contest.

With just three games left to play, Southwestern (4-21, 1-18 KCAC) will have their Senior Day game against the Bethany College Swedes inside Stewart Field House on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 3 p.m. The battle will represent the final home game of the season for SC, as their final two tilts will be played on the road at Bethel (Wednesday, Feb. 15) and at Friends (Saturday, Feb. 18).

--buildersports.com--