Game Notes

Date: November 29, 2021
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: Bolivar, Mo.

Bolivar, Mo. -Southwest Baptist wraps up their home stretch Monday, opening conference play with a matchup against the Cardinals of William Jewell.

SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
In their first year as full-time members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, the SBU Women's Basketball team finished 15-13 (9-11 GLVC) on the year. The GLVC allows just 8 teams to make the conference tournament. Finishing 10th out of 16 teams in the GLVC, the Bearcats narrowly missed the conference tournament for the second straight year.

The 2020-21 season was a shortened, conference opponent only season due to COVID-19. In that shortened season, SBU finished with a 5-14 record. Their strongest portion of the season came in January, as the team won 4 contests, 3 of those in a row. Arguably their best win came on the road against Maryville, defeating the Saints 100-97 in double overtime. Returning for an extra year of eligibility is All-GLVC selection, Kyleigh Vaught. She started 18 games last year, leading the team with 564 minutes played, scoring 261 points which averages to 14.5 per game (20th in GLVC). From the free throw line, Vaught shot 66-75 (88.0%) which led the conference. Vaught also led the team in three's made (27), assists (41), and steals (26). Eight other Bearcats return from the 2020-21 roster, including Brylee Graddy, Rachel Tippens, Nyah Pettus, Mary Rose Foster, Gabriella Capasso, Natalie Basham, Bella Irlenborn, and Alyssa Williams.

The Bearcats are 2-3 so far this year, going back-and-forth on the wins and losses. They began the year with a tight contest against Kentucky Wesleyan 66-75 who defeated Drury the next day, and defeated Trevecca Nazarene 67-54 for their first win. After dropping their home opener to Missouri Western, the team bounced back with a 45-point win over Haskell. Most recently, the team fell to Rogers State, 63-71. Kyleigh Vaught continues to lead the team, totaling 65 points over 5 games. She also leads the team in assists (11) and steals (7). Freshman Kelsey Blakemore is shooting 51.7% from the field with 40 points, 16 rebounds, and 7 steals. Down low, Mary Rose Foster has a team-leading 33 rebounds and 4 blocks. She has also scored 37 points and dished 10 assists. Freshmen Faith Gilkey and Emma Perry had strong performances recently, Gilkey with 17 points on 6-8 shooting against Haskell, and Perry with 14 points on 4-8 shooting from three against RSU.

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
After a 12-10 regular season record in 2020-21, the William Jewell Cardinals enter the new season with an 0-4 record. Three of their four losses came with deficits of 15+ points. They opened with a 41-61 loss to Northern Michigan, following with a 49-75 final against Michigan Technological University. In their home opener, the Cardinals dropped a 55-56 game to NAIA Baker University. Most recently, WJC fell to MIAA member Lincoln, 50-65. Leading the charge for the Cardinals is a pair of guards in Kate Hillyer and Libby Arnold. Hilyer has recorded 35 points on 32.5% shooting and leads the team with 21 rebounds. Arnold enters this contest with 34 points scored and 19 rebounds. Lea Finn has been doing a bit of it all with 24 points, 16 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals, and 2 blocks.

THE COACHES
SBU head coach Kelsey Keizer begins her eighth season on the SBU bench after compiling a 86-104 (49-88 conf.) record while at SBU. Coach Keizer led the Bearcats to back-to-back-to-back winning seasons (2015-16, 2016-17, and 2017-18) for the first time since the 2000-01, 2001-02, and 2002-03 seasons. Since joining the GLVC in 2019, Keizer has had three AllGLVC selections.

Jill Slominski returns as the head coach of the Cardinals for her 26th year in 2021-22. Since taking over the program in 1996, Slominski has led the team to a 454-321 record. She has coached the team to nine 20-win seasons, four of those have been 25+ wins, and the 2004-05 holds the record at 28 wins. Slominski led the team to GLVC post-season tournaments in 8 of the previous 9 seasons.

ALL-TIME SERIES
SBU leads the all-time series 14-7, splitting with WJC last season. The Bearcats won the second meeting of the year, 66-60 in Bolivar. In that game, Kyleigh Vaught had 13 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 assists, and Rachel Tippens recorded 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists.