No. 9 Lady Jays stay hot heading into break
Tabor women thump McPherson, 78-48
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Everything was going right for the Lady Bluejays Saturday night, hosting the struggling McPherson Lady Bulldogs.
While the Bulldogs might have come out strong at the start, actually trading lead changes five times in the game's first 7:30, it wasn't nearly strong enough.
McPherson fizzled out with about 12:00 left in the first half as the Bluejays (9-3) ended the half on a 30-8 run on their way to cruising to a 78-48 beating of the Bulldogs and their fifth straight win.
"McPherson came out and they played really hard and I think it took us just a little bit to figure it out," Bluejay coach Rusty Allen said. "They over-committed a lot to give us a lot of backdoor looks and lost us in the post a lot.
"We got dribble penetration and we really played pretty good team basketball."
The Bluejays got a balanced scoring attack with four finishing in double figures, paced by Erica Dechant's and Emily Vogts' 13 points each.
Of Tabor's 31 baskets, 21 came off passes with Donya Anderson and Kirsten Watson dishing out six and five assists, respectively.
For a team that's boasting a 70 points per game average, the 36th highest in the NAIA so far, Tabor had its offense in low gear to start with.
Barely 4:00 into the game, the Bluejays were trailing 12-9.
Transition baskets from both Anderson and Watson got Tabor over the hump and it never looked back with the Bulldogs only being able to tie on their next possession.
Tabor's defense, in particular, Jill Hein, disrupted what the Bulldogs were trying to do offensively.
"She made so many good plays on defense," Allen said of Hein. "She cut off her man every time her man tried to drive, she kept her from catching the ball, and she guarded well on the help side. I thought Jill had a great game, I really did."
The Bulldogs hit a lapse that lasted more than 3:00 while the Bluejays extended their lead to 22.
Dechant canned a triple to send Tabor in with a comfortable 44-22 lead at the break and shooting a blazing 56 percent from the floor with the Bulldogs giving the Bluejays an 18-point boost with 16 turnovers.
The Bluejays had a lapse of their own, more than 2:30 without a basket in the second half.
Nicole Ellis scored on a fast-break to give Tabor its largest lead of the game, 63-29, before the Bluejays cooled off.
McPherson, led by eight points from Crystal Thomas, used an 11-1 run to close the gap to 64-41 with 8:42 left.
Tabor suffered a crucial injury late in the game with point guard Staci Herman sustaining a sprained ankle and not returning to action.
Shooting 27 percent the second half, 31 for the game and a worthless 19 percent from outside, was as close as the Bulldogs would get again as Allen emptied his bench with 2:47 left.
Tabor finished with 49 percent and 41 from three-point range with Erica Hemmert and Anderson adding 11 and 10 more points, respectively, and Hemmert pulling down a team-high eight rebounds.
The Bluejays also got a 31-point lift off the bench with 11 players breaking into the scoring column.
Tabor returns to action Dec. 30 when it travels to Chickasha, Okla., to face the University of Science and Arts Lady Drovers at 4 p.m.
