(LEBANON, Ill., Jan. 30)—McKendree College women’s basketball coach
Melissa Ringhausen picked up her 200
th career coaching victory as the Bearcats rolled past Hannibal-LaGrange College Tuesday at the Melvin Price Convocation Center, 85-55.
Junior forward
Heather Elders (Energy, Ill./Herrin) (Energy, Ill./Herrin) paced McKendree with 19 points as the Bearcats improved to 13-9 overall and 4-3 in American Midwest Conference play. Senior forward
Emily Hart (Columbia, Ill./Columbia) (Columbia, Ill./Columbia) chipped in with 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds for McKendree, while junior forward
Suzy Gerler (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central) (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central) added 12 points and four steals. Senior guard
Katie Hasheider (Okawville, Ill./Okawville) (Okawville, Ill./Okawville) rounded out the list of double-digit scorers for McKendree with 11 points.
Ringhausen, who is in her 10th season as the Bearcats’ head coach, pushed her career record to 200-125. She is the all-time wins leader in McKendree women’s basketball history. During her tenure with the Bearcats, Ringhausen has led her squads to six NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball National Championship appearances and five AMC Tournament titles.
In Tuesday’s game, McKendree forced 29 Hannibal-LaGrange turnovers and held an opponent without a three-point field goal for the first time this season. The Bearcats also produced 19 steals and outrebounded the Trojans by a 49-37 margin.
McKendree grabbed the lead early in the first half. The Bearcats used an 8-0 run to build the lead to double figures, 29-15, with 7:20 left in the period before taking a 38-27 lead at the intermission. Hannibal-LaGrange cut the deficit to 38-31 in the opening minute of the second half when McKendree scored the next eight points to extend its lead back to 46-31 at the 17:25 mark.
Whitney Pollard led Hannibal-LaGrange (9-12, 4-3 AMC) with 14 points, while Megan Martin posted 12 points for the Trojans.
McKendree will play host to William Woods University in an AMC contest Saturday at 5 p.m.
-McK-
