GAME DAY LINKS --
McKENDREE at KENTUCKY STATE -- Saturday, Dec. 8, 2018, 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. CT)
Exum Center -- Frankfort, Ky.
LIVE STATS
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
KENTUCKY STATE SEASON STATISTICS
(LEBANON, Ill., Dec. 7)--The McKendree University women's basketball team will open head east to Frankfort, Ky., to meet Kentucky State University in a non-conference battle Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. CT).
The Bearcats head into Saturday's contest with a 6-2 overall record following a 69-48 victory Wednesday night at home against Missouri Baptist University.
Madison Hart (Oak Creek, WI/Oak Creek) registered the first double-double of her career with 13 points and a career-high 14 rebounds to lead a balanced scoring attack for McKendree.
Sydney Diekhoff (Pekin, IL/Pekin Community) and
Shayli Florine (Galesburg, IL/Galesburg) each had 11 points in the effort. As a team, the Bearcats held a 53-27 edge in rebounding against the visiting Spartans. McKendree also clamped down defensively, holding Missouri Baptist to just 31 percent shooting on the night.
McKendree's 6-2 start matches the program's best eight-game record in its NCAA Division II era, which dates back to 2012-13. The Bearcats also raced to a 6-2 record to begin the 2013-14 campaign. Victories in each of its next two games would give McKendree its best start to a season since 2004-05, when the Bearcats rolled to eight wins in their first 10 contests.
After returning from Kentucky State, the McKendree players will prep for final exams for the fall semester. The Bearcats will return to the court on Sunday, Dec. 16 with a visit to Northwest Missouri State University. McKendree will then host Culver-Stockton College on Dec. 19 at 1 p.m. before wrapping up its non-conference slate on Dec. 30 at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
ABOUT KENTUCKY STATE
The Thorobrettes are 4-5 on the season and 1-1 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Kentucky State last played on Monday in a 62-39 win at LeMoyne-Owen College. The Thorobrettes shot nearly 52 percent from the field as four different players finished the night in double figures. Brooke Wallace led the charge with 18 points while Jessie Kee added 11 points.
Wallace averages a double-double for Kentucky State at 13.8 points and 11.1 rebounds per contest. Kee is the only other Thorobrette averaging in double figures at 10.7 PPG. Amani Williams has handed out a team-best 30 assists while Wallace has collected 16 steals.
McKendree and Kentucky State met almost exactly one year ago -- Dec. 11, 2017 -- at the Statham Center in Lebanon. The Bearcats outscored the Thorobrettes 24-5 in the third quarter on their way to a 64-51 win. Diekhoff had 12 points in the victory for the Bearcats.
