(COLUMBIA, Mo., March 5)—Sophomore guard Katie Fullerton (Coulterville, Ill./Coulterville) (Coulterville, Ill./Coulterville) poured in a career-best 23 points, including 14 in the second half, to lead the McKendree University women's basketball team to a 74-61 victory Friday at Columbia College in the semifinal round of the 2009 American Midwest Conference Tournament.
Senior forward Emily Best (Wood River, Ill./East Alton-Wood River) (Wood River, Ill./East Alton-Wood River) added 11 points and seven rebounds, while senior guard Kelsey Park (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) and sophomore guard Ashley Agee (Moberly, Mo./Moberly) (Moberly, Mo./Moberly) each chipped in with 10 points as the Bearcats used a big second-half effort to pull away from the Cougars. McKendree, the No. 3 seed in the AMC Tournament, shot 53.6 percent in the final 20 minutes of play (15-of-28) and forced 12 second-half turnovers by second-seeded Columbia.
This was McKendree's second victory of the season over Columbia, the No. 16-ranked team in NAIA Division I. The Bearcats improve to 20-11 overall and will be on the road Monday for the AMC Tournament championship game at top-seeded William Woods University. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in Fulton, Mo. The game will be carried live on the Bearcat Sports Network at http://athletics.mckendree.edu. A victory would give McKendree its sixth consecutive trip to the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship, which will be held March 18-24 in Jackson, Tenn.
This marks the eighth consecutive year that McKendree has reached the 20-win mark. The last time the Bearcats failed to reach 20 victories came in the 2000-01 campaign, when they went 19-14.
In the first half, Columbia took its largest lead of the contest, 24-13, on a three-point field goal by Whitney Davis at the 5:21 mark. McKendree responded with a run of nine consecutive points to pull within 24-22 with just 2:13 left in the period. Fullerton and junior guard Haley Klingelhoefer (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah) (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah) combined for all nine points during the Bearcats' spurt.
After the Cougars regained a 28-22 in the closing seconds of the half, Klingelhoefer came up with a steal and the Bearcats cashed in a 10-foot jumper by freshman forward Ashley Dressler (Columbia, Mo./Rockbridge) (Columbia, Mo./Rock Bridge) just before the buzzer. McKendree trailed by just four, 28-24, at the intermission.
McKendree jumped out of the gates with a 6-1 run to start the second half to take a 30-29 lead. Columbia eventually took its final lead of the night, 34-32, with just under 16 minutes left. From there, the Bearcats took control. McKendree reeled off 12 consecutive points to pull out to a 44-34 lead at the 11:25 mark. Following a Cougar basket the Bearcats scored the next seven points to extend its margin to 51-36. McKendree led by as many as 20 points in the second half to collect the victory.
Dressler pulled down a game-high nine rebounds for McKendree, which held a 41-30 edge on the boards. Park dished out a team-best three assists.
Rachel Oswald scored a game-high 27 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead Columbia. The Cougars will have to await word of an at-large bid to the NAIA Tournament.
William Woods swept the regular-season series with McKendree. The Owls posted a 66-56 win in Lebanon on Jan. 8 before collecting a 72-59 victory in Fulton, Mo., on Feb. 5.
-McK-
