GAME DAY LINKS --
McKENDREE vs. MISSOURI BAPTIST -- Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018, 5:30 p.m.
Statham Center -- Lebanon, Ill.
WATCH LIVE (Bearcat Sports Network)
LIVE STATS
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
MISSOURI BAPTIST SEASON STATISTICS
(LEBANON, Ill., Dec. 4)--The McKendree University women's basketball team will host Missouri Baptist University in a non-conference battle at the Statham Center Wednesday evening at 5:30 p.m. The contest will be carried live on the Bearcat Sports Network at
www.glvcsn.com/mckendree, beginning with the pre-game show at 5:20 p.m.
The Bearcats made some program history last weekend during its two-game Great Lakes Valley Conference road trip to St. Louis. McKendree defeated both the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Maryville University to mark the team's first-ever 2-0 start in GLVC play. McKendree and Truman State University were the only programs to win two conference contests last week and sit tied atop the league standings at 2-0. The Bearcats are 5-2 overall, which matches the team's best seven-game start in its NCAA Division II era that dates back to the 2012-13 campaign. McKendree also won five of its first seven games back in 2013-14.
In its 68-47 win at Maryville on Saturday, McKendree led 19-10 after one quarter and 39-22 at the half and never looked back in cruising to the victory. The Bearcats once again shared the basketball, totalling 19 assists on their 25 made field goals. Defensively, McKendree held the host Saints without a three-pointer as Maryville was 0-for-17 from beyond the arc.
Jordan Heberg (Romeoville, IL/Plainfield North) led a balanced offensive attack for the Bearcats with 15 points while
Sydney Diekhoff (Pekin, IL/Pekin Community) added 14 points and
Jenna Krause (Seymour, WI/Seymour) came off the bench to net 11 points.
Jordan Morton (Olathe, Kan./Olathe South) and
Megan Jensen (Union, MO/Saint Francis Borgia Regional) each pulled down a team-leading eight rebounds as
Callie Pohlman (Appleton, WI/Appleton North) handed out a game-high seven assists in the win.
In the latest GLVC statistical report, McKendree ranks high among conference leaders in several defensive categories. The Bearcats are tied for second in scoring defense, holding their opponents to just 60 PPG. McKendree is also limiting foes to just 37.6 percent shooting from the field, which is third among all league teams. Opponents are connecting on 25.2 percent of their three-point tries, which puts the Bearcats second in the GLVC in three-point field goal defense. McKendree is second in rebounding at 41.6 RPG, and is second in assist-to-turnover ratio, a statistic that places the Bearcats 20th in NCAA Division II.
Diekhoff is currently third in the GLVC in scoring at 17.3 PPG. She is shooting 88.9 percent from the free throw line, which is third among all conference players. Heberg is the other McKendree player scoring in double digits at 12.1 PPG. Morton sits seventh in the league in rebounding at 7.7 RPG. Jensen is fourth in the GLVC in field goal percentage at 58.5 percent, while Pohlman is fourth in assists at 4.4 APG.
McKendree will close out its week on Saturday with a trip east to take on Kentucky State University. The Bearcats will then visit Northwest Missouri State University on Dec. 16 before heading into the holiday break with a Dec. 19 home game against Culver-Stockton College.
ABOUT MISSOURI BAPTIST
The Spartans -- who are members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) -- are currently 3-6 overall and 2-3 in the American Midwest Conference (AMC). Missouri Baptist was edged in its last contest on Saturday at William Woods University, 77-74. Rose Wassef led the Spartans with 17 points while Kadesha Cooper chipped in with 14 points.
Alissa Rowden is the Spartans' leading scorer on the season at 13.4 PPG. Cooper also averages in double figures at 12 PPG. Cooper and Le'Ondra Wilson share team-high rebounding honors at 3.8 RPG. Izzy Farrell has dished out 27 assists in nine games for the Spartans.
McKendree and Missouri Baptist are former rivals from the Bearcats' days as members of the AMC from 1991-2011. The two teams have played three times since McKendree became NCAA Division II members back in 2012-13. The Bearcats have won all three meetings over that span. The last contest came back on Dec. 13, 2013, when McKendree registered a 72-58 victory in Lebanon.
