(HANNIBAL, Mo., Feb. 24)—Senior forward
Emily Hart (Columbia, Ill./Columbia) (Columbia, Ill./Columbia) poured in a game-high 35 points to guide the McKendree College women’s basketball team to an 86-77 victory Saturday at Hannibal-LaGrange College.
With the victory, the Bearcats earned their 20th victory of the season and wrapped up the top seed in next week’s American Midwest Conference Tournament. McKendree is now 20-10 overall and finished AMC play with an 11-3 record. The Bearcats were tied with Columbia College in the AMC standings, and the teams split their regular-season series. However, McKendree owned the head-to-head tie-breaker based on its season sweep of the University of Illinois at Springfield.
Hart was 12-of-15 from the field and 11-of-13 from the free throw line to finish the contest just one point shy of her career-high of 36 points, set earlier in the year against The Master’s College. In addition, Hart moved past the 1,900-point mark for her career at McKendree, and now sits at 1,926 points.
McKendree trailed 48-41 at the half, but used a 15-3 run to grab a 56-51 lead with 14:56 remaining. Hannibal-LaGrange responded by scoring the next seven points to take its last lead of the night, 58-56, before a three-pointer by senior guard
Katie Hasheider (Okawville, Ill./Okawville) (Okawville, Ill./Okawville) sparked an 8-0 run that pushed the Bearcats back in front, 64-58, with just under 12 minutes left.
Hart added a team-high nine rebounds and four steals for McKendree, while Hasheider finished with 13 points and four assists. Junior forward
Heather Elders (Energy, Ill./Herrin) (Energy, Ill./Herrin) posted 11 points, while sophomore guard
Kelsey Park (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) dished out a team-leading six assists for the Bearcats.
Forward Whitney Pollard led a balanced attack for Hannibal-LaGrange (13-16, 7-7 AMC) with 16 points, while guard Theresa Goodwin chipped in with 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Trojans.
McKendree will play host to William Woods University in the first round of the AMC Tournament on Tuesday at the Melvin Price Convocation Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
-McK-
