Lady Bluejays win pair of big road wins
Tabor women defeat Kansas Wesleyan, Friends Falcons
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
You won't find Lady Bluejay coach Rusty Allen and his team taking many opponents lightly these days.
Even against a team like Saturday's Kansas Wesleyan Lady Coyotes in Salina, Tabor expects to be hit hard.
The Bluejays had to work for the 66-49 win that lifted their record to 6-4 in the KCAC and 11-9 on the year.
Led by Victoria Gillett's 18 points in the first half, Wesleyan gave Tabor all it wanted.
Her basket 6:12 into the game was the only time the Coyotes led in the contest.
Tabor took control of the game after a three-point play from Jill Hein fueled a 7-0 run that stretched its lead to 25-16.
Hein scored 13 points in the win behind 6-for-10 from the floor.
Tabor got its usual balanced scoring onslaught with Erica Hemmert pacing with 14, including 2-of-3 from outside to help finish 4-for-8.
Freshman post Jessica Vineyard shot 5-for-7 from the floor to finish with 12 points, coming up one rebound shy of a double-double.
Sinking a pair of triples, Rachelle Wertenberger added 10 points.
Gillette struck again, helping the Coyotes trim the lead to 25-21 with 2:24 left in the first half.
Wesleyan went into the locker room at half-time with plenty of momentum after Gillette hit a buzzer beater to pull to 31-27.
Whatever footing the Coyotes had in the first half gave way in the second as they went ice cold in shooting, hitting 24 percent and a paltry 18-for-58 on the night after going 42 percent the first half.
The avalanche started sliding on Wesleyan with Tabor up, 39-31 with just over 15:00 to play.
Nearly 6:00 later, the game was out of reach as the Bluejays used a 17-0 run to take over the game, 56-31.
In addition to holding the Coyotes to the low percentage, the Bluejay defense handcuffed Gillette the second half, holding her to four points.
Tabor hit a red-hot 56 percent from the floor in both halves and 10-for-14 at the foul line for the game.
The Bluejays get a rematch at 6 p.m. today against the Bethany Lady Swedes.
Tabor is at home Saturday for a 5 p.m. meeting with the Bethel Lady Threshers.
Friends
The Falcons have a tendency to be shorthanded anytime the Bluejays roll into Wichita.
For the second straight year, Friends didn't have a full cast Thursday, lessening Allen's worries about the game.
Jill Hein had a career-night, scoring 22 points to spark a productive night for the Bluejay bench.
Also coming off the bench to score 12 points, Nicole Ellis was both perfect from the field and from the free throw line.
Hein scored seven straight points to boost Tabor's lead to 31-19 after an 11-0 run to end the half.
Friends came roaring back, outscoring the Bluejays 8-2 in the first 3:00 of the second half.
Tabor quieted the outburst with a 15-0 surge to take control of the game with 6:00 left in the game, up 58-35.
The Bluejays used red-hot 19-for-22 shooting at the free throw line to slam the door on the Falcons.
Tabor shot 22-of-45 from the floor while the defense limited Friends' looks at a good shot the second half, holding it to 16-of-55 from the floor and 2-for-16 from downtown.
