By: Christian Binger, Interim Director of Athletics Media Relations
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Date: February 10, 2018
Time: 1:30 PM
Location: Pittsburg, Kansas
Bolivar, Mo. - Southwest Baptist (14-8, 6-7 MIAA) concludes a two game road trip with a showdown with the second best team in the MIAA in Pittsburg State, (18-5, 11-3 MIAA) on Saturday.
SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
The Bearcats hold a 14-8 (6-7 MIAA) record on the season. They recently won a road conference game against Missouri Southern by a final score of 79-75. Over their 23 games, the Bearcats boast the second highest points per game in the conference with 76.3 ppg and the highest free throw percentage in the conference of 83.6%. Megan Rosenbohm and Caylee Richardson make the Bearcats go. Rosenbohm is the 24th best scorer in the NCAA and the leading scorer in the MIAA with 19.3 points per game. She also collects 6.1 rebounds per game, 3.8 assists per game, a conference leading 3.0 steals per game, and makes 90.9% of her free throws. Caylee Richardson averages a near double double with 16 points per game and 8.8 rebounds per game on 55.5% shooting from the field and 88.1% at the line.
SCOUTING THE GORILLAS
Pittsburg State enters the matchup with a record of 18-5 (11-3 MIAA). The Gorillas come into the game after defeating nationally ranked Central Missouri by a score of 68-63. Mikaela Burgess leads the way for the Gorillas averaging 15.9 points per game, while shooting 37.1% from the field. Shelby Lopez averages 11.2 points per game, while shooting 82% from the line and shooting 44.8% from the field. As a team Pittsburg State averages 74.1 points per game, while shooting 43.4% from the field.
THE COACHES
SBU head coach Kelsey Keizer is in her fourth season on the Bearcat bench after leading SBU back to the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City for the first time in three years. Coach Keizer led the Bearcats to back-to-back winning seasons (16-14, 7-12 MIAA last year) in 2015-16 and 2016-17. A feat that had not been done since the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons. Coach Keizer holds a career coaching record of 58-52 and a 29-44 mark in the MIAA.
In his 11th year as Pittsburg State's head coach is Lane Lord, who has built Pittsburg State into a powerhouse. Coach Lord has lead Pittsburg State to four straight NCAA tournament appearances from 2014-2017. Coach Lord has a career record of 208-95 during his time with the Gorillas, as well as being named the MIAA coach of the year five different times.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Pittsburg State leads the all-time series 33-25. The two teams matched up in Bolivar in February 2017 with Gorillas holding off the Bearcats 69-63
BEARCATS LAST OUTING
(02/07/18) - Bolivar, Mo. - Ray'Shionne Smith's best game in a Bearcat uniform could not have come at a better time as she scored a game high and career 21 points to propel Southwest Baptist to their third straight victory. The win improves SBU's record to 15-8 (7-7 MIAA) while Missouri Southern falls to 10-12 (7-7 MIAA).
Smith scored her 21 points on 8 of 17 (47.1%) shooting overall, which included 5 of 7 (71.4%) from the three point line. Megan Rosenbohm was the only other Bearcat in double digits with 18 points. Most of her damage was done at the free throw line as she went 12-12 from the stripe. Rosenbohm added 6 rebounds and a team high 4 assists too. Caylee Richardson chipped in 8 points and grabbed a team high 8 rebounds in the game. After a cold first half, SBU picked it up in the second half and shot a scorching 51.6% from the floor. Overall, Southwest Baptist converted 39.1% (25-64) of its field goal tries, 37.5% (9-24) of its threes, and 83.3% (20-24) of its free throws. The Bearcats won the rebounding battle over the Lions, 43 to 38 and cashed in 17 points off of 11 Lion turnovers. The Bearcat bench was also a key factor as SBU got 19 bench points from the likes of Regan Tibbits, Bailey Rezabek, and Taliayah Wilson.
After Missouri Southern opened up an early 7-3 lead, Tibbits finished off five straight points from the Bearcats to take an 8-7 advantage. The Lions responded and regained a 18-13 advantage with 32 seconds to go in the quarter. Two Rosenbohm free throws trimmed the deficit to 18-15 going into the second quarter.
At the 7:01 mark of the second quarter, Smith layed the ball in to cap a 9-0 run from the Bearcats and hand SBU a 24-18 lead. With 1:46 left, Missouri Southern regained the lead 29-28 over SBU. The Lions added a free throw to make it 30-28 at halftime.
After the first four minutes of third quarter play, the Lions had extended their margin to six points, 42-36. Behind a 9-2 spurt, SBU knotted the contest at 45. Tibbits gave the Bearcats their first lead of the quarter at 51-49. Then after a Missouri Southern three, Rezabek answered with a three to provide SBU a 54-52 advantage heading into the final quarter of play.
SBU carried their momentum into the fourth quarter, using a 12-4 run over the first three and a half minutes of the quarter to open up a double digit lead, 66-56. With 4:54 to go, Richardson gave SBU a 12 point advantage, which was the largest for any team all game. With 1:39 remaining, the Lions had cut the margin down to five but free throws from Richardson, Rezabek, and Rosenbohm ultimately secured the 79-75 win.
GORILLAS LAST OUTING
(2/7/18) - Warrensburg, Mo. — The Pittsburg State University women's basketball team rallied from an early 10-point deficit and battled back to knock off No. 4 University of Central Missouri, 68-63, Wednesday (Feb. 7) at the UCM Multipurpose Building.
The Gorillas (18-5, 10-3 MIAA) snapped the Jennies (19-2, 13-1 MIAA) 16-game winning streak and handed UCM its first loss in conference play.
Mikaela Burgess scored a team-leading 20 points for the Gorillas, while Meghan Maher added 14 key points including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 45 seconds to play in the game. Maher scored all 14 of her points in the second half. Shelby Lopez chipped in with 12 points, while Madison Northcutt finished with nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
UCM rushed out to a 11-2 lead against Pitt State. The Gorillas scored the first basket of the game but then missed their next 11 shots from the floor as the Jennies put together an 11-0 run. Pitt State battled back from the slow start to draw within four points, 19-15, at the end of the first quarter.
The Jennies still led 31-28 at halftime and 47-44 after three quarters of play. Pitt State, which led for just a total of 2:56 of game time in the contest, finally retook a short-lived lead, 51-49, on a Northcutt layup with 6:59 to play. UCM's Paige Redmond, who led all scorers with 27 points, countered with a 3-pointer 15 seconds later to put the Jennies back in front.
The lead changed hands two more times with UCM's Sydney Crockett giving the Jennies a 63-62 edge with 1:55 to go. Following a pair of misses – by Burgess and UCM's Kayonna Lee – Maher hit the final go-ahead 3-pointer with 45 ticks left. Redmond missed a 3-pointer with 35 seconds remaining and Burgess hit a pair of free throws with 26 ticks left to extend the Gorillas' lead to 67-63.
Crockett missed a 3-pointer for the Jennies with 18 seconds to go and Paige Imhoff sealed the win for Pitt State by making one of two free throws with 14 seconds to play.
The Gorillas owned a 41-25 rebounding advantage over the Jennies, including a 13-4 edge on the offensive glass. Both teams made 25 shots from the floor – Pitt State converted nine 3-pointers while UCM made just four shots from distance.
