Game Notes

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Bolivar, Mo. - The Bearcat Women enter the month of February hosting the Gorillas of Pittsburg State. The game can be found live on 99.9 KBFL, and streaming online at www.radiospringfield.com. A live webcast will be available as well, at www.AmericaOne.com.

The Coaches and the All-Time Series

SBU head coach J.C. Carter is in his third season on the Bearcat bench, where his teams have shown improvement each season. Last year's 10-18 mark was two games better than Carter's first year in Bolivar.

Lane Lord enters his third season as head women's basketball coach at Pittsburg State University. After a 10-17 record his first year, the Gorillas recorded athe best turnaround in school history, with a 20-9 recrod and third-place finish in the MIAA regular season.

The Bearcats and Gorillas have met 49 times in their history, and the series couldn't be any closer, Pitt has won 25 games and SBU 24.Pttsburg State has taken four of the last five meetings, and has also won the last contest against SBU in the beginning of the 2010-11 season.

Last Time Out For the Bearcats

The Bearcat women's basketball team lost a heart breaker in overtime to Missouri Southern Saturday night, 61-66, in Joplin. The game was fast paced and included 22 lead changes.
For the second away game in a row, senior guard Courtney Heady lead the Bearcats in scoring with 16 points off the bench, going four for eight from beyond the arc. Head coach J.C. Carter was very happy with how his senior guard played. “She has played well, and we needed her to step up. She stepped up and hit some big shots tonight” said coach Carter. Junior forward Lakendra Smith also contributed 14 points off of 7 of 9 shooting from the field.

As a team the Bearcats played well tonight, collecting 10 steals, forcing 24 tournovers, and holding the Lions to 11 assists. The Bearcat bench outscored the Lion's bench 26-8. “This team believed they were going to win, and I believe they deserved to win” coach Carter stated after the game.


Quick Hits

• Senior Courtney Heady lead the Bearcats in points against the Northwest Missouri Lions last Saturday (Jan. 29). Heady scored a total of 16 points out of the 61 total points the Bearcat Women scored.

• Lakendra Smith scored 14 points against the Lions. Smith also grabbed five rebounds and a steal against Northwest Missouri.

• Tanis Spani has become a great asset for the Bearcats. Playing 32 minutes against the Lions, Spani scored eight points, had four rebounds, one assist and four steals.

• Senior forward Whitney Malone is one of the front-runners for the MIAA All-Defense team. Against the Lions Malone grabbed six rebounds, had one block and one steal. The senior from Attoka Tennessee averages 8.2 rebounds per game (4 th in the MIAA) and 2.5 steals per game (also 4th in the MIAA)

• The Bearcat women have an overall record of 7-10 (4-9 MIAA). Offensively SBU averages 64.4 points per game (9th in MIAA). Defensively SBU conceives an average of 65.2 points per game (9th MIAA).

Scouting the Gorillas

Pittsburg State University lost their last game to Central Mo. University at home and will travel to Bolivar, Mo. in hopes to get back in the winning track against our SBU Bearcats. The Gorillas average 65.6 points per game and defensively only allow 60.6 points per game (2nd in MIAA).

Drew Roberts is the leader scorer for the Pitt State Gorillas with an average of 11.9 points per game. Roberts plays an average of 31.9 minutes per game and leads the Gorillas in offensive rebounds with an average of 2.5 per game.