LEBANON, Ill. – The McKendree University women's basketball team will look to snap a six-game losing skid dating to last season here Tuesday evening as the Bearcats host Blackburn College for a 5:30 p.m. non-conference tilt in the Melvin Price Convocation Center on the McKendree campus.

Tuesday's game will mark the third home game of the 2021-22 season for the Bearcats as they opened its campaign at home on Nov. 12-13 with games against Tiffin and Purdue Northwest as part of the Midwest Region Crossover. The Bearcats fell 64-40 to Tiffin and 84-61 to Purdue Northwest.

McKendree enters Tuesday's game sporting an 0-4 record this season after dropping two games last weekend at Quincy's Hansen-Spear Funeral Home Classic. At the two-day event, the Bearcats opened with a 70-46 setback on Friday to Winona State (Minn.) University and then fell 72-32 on Saturday to Ferris State. In both of the games, the Bearcats, who currently only have seven healthy players on their roster, held leads after the opening quarter of play.

The 0-4 start to the season is the first for the Bearcats since the 2014-15 team opened the season by losing its first five games en route to finishing the year with a 2-24 overall record.

ABOUT THE BEARCATS
Leading the way offensively for the Bearcats through the first four games is sophomore guard Christy Fortune (Appleton, Wis./Appleton West), who is averaging 12.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game and is shooting 48 percent from the field and 42 percent from the 3-point line and leads the team with seven made 3-pointers and was named to the All-Tournament Team at last weekend's Hansen-Spear Funeral Home Classic after averaging 11.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game and shooting 50 percent from the field and 46 percent from the 3-point line in McKendree's two games.

In addition to Fortune, the teams other double-digit scorer this season is sophomore guard Erin Golden (Batavia, Ill./Batavia), who is averaging 10.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and a 2.8 assists per game and is shooting 38 percent from the field and 80 percent at the free throw line as she had taken a team-best 15 free throw attempts.

Two other Bearcats – second-year freshman guard Clare Breden (Jerseyville, Ill./Jerseyville Community) and redshirt junior guard Kaelyn Froebe (Lincoln, Ill./Lincoln) – are averaging over 8.0 points per game as Breden is averaging 9.0 points and 3.3 rebounds per game and is shooting 35 percent from the 3-point line, while Froebe is averaging 8.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.

As a team, McKendree enters Tuesday's action averaging 44.8 points per game and are allowing 72.5 point per game and is shooting 34 percent from the field, 30 percent from the 3-point line and 70 percent from the free throw line. The shorter Bearcats (tallest player on active roster is just 6-foot) are getting outrebounded by 14.3 boards per game and is averaging 5.8 steals per game and 7.8 assists per game.

ABOUT BLACKBURN
Blackburn College, who is an NCAA Division III school located in Carlinville, Ill., and is a member of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, comes into the game sporting a 1-6 overall record and the Beavers are fresh off a 79-69 win this past Saturday at Lincoln Christian. That win snapped a 13 game losing streak dating to last season as the Beavers lost their final seven games of the 2020-21 season and then opened this season with six straight losses, including a 115-50 loss at Missouri S&T on Nov. 15.

Leading the way for the Beavers is junior guard Aryanna Harris, who is averaging 18.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game and is shooting 36 percent from the field and 73 percent from the free throw line and averages 10.5 free attempts per game as she has shot 52 free throws in five games. Harris has scored in double figures in all five games, including two games of tallying 20 or more points as she had 29 points in an 81-79 loss at Illinois Tech and had 21 points in a 77-57 loss at Concordia Chicago.

In addition to Harris, sophomore guard/forward Mariah Hopson is averaging 8.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game and is shooting 29 percent from the field and 80 percent at the free throw line, while senior guard Taliyah Davis is averaging 7.6 points and 2.1 rebounds per game and is shooting 33 percent from the field and 83 percent at the line.

As a team, Blackburn is averaging 56.6 points per game and is allowing 89.7 points per game and the Beavers are shooting 31 percent from the field, 17 percent (31-of-185) from the three-point line and 66 percent (103-for-157). On the season, 44 percent of Blackburn's field goal attempts have been 3-pointers and they are averaging 22.4 free throws attempts per game. Additionally, Blackburn is getting outrebounded by 12.5 boards per game and are committing a little over 26 turnovers per game.

Daniel Johnson is in his first season as Blackburn's coach after starting the women's basketball program at Penn State Shenango. Johnson is 1-6 as Blackburn's coach and his first Beavers team was tabbed to finish eighth in the Preseason SLIAC Coaches poll.

Tuesday's game will be the fourth all-time meeting between the two schools and the first since Nov. 11, 2017 when the Bearcats picked up an 88-44 win in the Convocation Center.

UP NEXT
Following Tuesday's game, the Bearcats will set their sights on Great Lakes Valley Conference play as they open league play next Monday, Nov. 29 with a 5:30 p.m. game at Illinois-Springfield. That game will be the first of three games next week as the Bearcats play a 5:15 p.m. game on Thursday, Dec. 2 at Maryville and then host Lewis for a 1 p.m. game on Saturday, Nov. 4.