Women's Basketball Topples Nebraska Wesleyan, 63-34
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Nebraska Wesleyan (3-8, 0-3) | 9 | 10 | 6 | 9 | 34 |
|
Hastings (10-4, 6-2) | 16 | 10 | 24 | 13 | 63 |
(Hastings, NE) – After a low-scoring first half, the Hastings Broncos put together a strong final 15 minutes, including a 22-1 run to end the third quarter, to drop Nebraska Wesleyan, 63-34, on Monday afternoon.
Junior Bailey Kissinger opened the game with a basket on the first possession. Later in the quarter, freshman Catelynn Bargen and Kissinger converted three-point plays to take a 10-4 lead with 4:41 left. Bargen and senior Macy Bryant scored the next few points for the Broncos and sophomore Ann Bose put back a miss in the final minute of the quarter, putting Hastings up 16-9 after one.
Bargen scored early in the second quarter, but Hastings would not score again until the 5:45 mark when senior Mariyah Avila put one through. Bose scored shortly after, then Nebraska Wesleyan answered with four points of their own, making it 22-17 with 2:36 left in the half. Bryant drilled a three on their next possession and the Broncos took a 26-19 lead into the break.
The Prairie Wolves cut the lead to seven on their first second half possession and got within four at 28-24 with 7:25 left. No more scoring occurred until the 5:14 mark when Bryant knocked a three down, which started a 22-1 run to end the quarter. After a backcourt turnover by Nebraska Wesleyan, Bryant scored off the inbound pass from Kissinger to go up nine.
Following a Kissinger free throw, Bryant scored on a second-chance basket and got fouled. Leading 41-25 after points by sophomore Josilyn Miller and Kissinger, sophomore Adyson Mlnarik drained a three and sophomore McKenna Yates hit two triples on back-to-back possessions, as Hastings took a 50-25 lead after three quarters.
Yates made another three to start the fourth quarter and Avila followed with a three-pointer of her own to make it 56-29 with 8:10 remaining. Following a two from Kissinger, sophomore Stella Heapy put the Broncos up by 30 with a basket from deep and sophomore Mikah O'Neill scored the final Hastings basket, making the final 63-34.
Hastings had 60 rebounds to Nebraska Wesleyan's 45 and forced 28 Prairie Wolf turnovers by and turned those into 29 points. Both teams were held under 30 percent from the field and 25 percent from three-point range.
Bryant finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, while Kissinger had 12 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Bargen came off the bench to score eight points and collect a team-high 11 rebounds. O'Neill also contributed off the bench with nine rebounds, along with her two points.
Up next, Hastings will have an exhibition at Augustana on Tuesday, Dec. 30 at 2pm before resuming conference action on Saturday, Jan. 3 with a home game against #2 Dordt.
