LEBANON, Ill. – McKendree University women's basketball found its offense here Tuesday evening as the Bearcats scored a season high 90 points and made a season-high 12 three-pointers in posting a 90-71 non-conference victory over Blackburn College at the Melvin Price Convocation Center.
 
The win snapped a six game losing skid that dated to last season and gave the Bearcats its first win of the 2021-22 season as they improved to 1-4 overall, while Blackburn fell to 1-7 on the year.
 
Entering the game, the McKendree had made just 14 3-pointers in its first four games this season but nearly matched that season total against the Beavers as they shot 50 percent (12-for-24) from the 3-point line, including going 7-for-13 (53.8 percent) from long distance in the second half to outscore Blackburn, 49-35.
 
"It's always scary in the first quarter when your game plan is not going as intended and you've got to switch it up at the end of the first quarter," said McKendree head women's basketball coach Kari Kerkhoff following her team's first win since a 71-68 home win over Illinois-Springfield on Feb. 16, 2021. "They (Blackburn) came out on fire and traditionally, they do shoot the three, but not at the percentage they did tonight, so were trying to contain them and I thought our ladies did a good job at adjusting, especially at halftime."
 
The 90 points scored by the Bearcats were the most scored in a game since tallying 104 points in a 104-95 win over Davis & Elkins on Dec. 21, 2013. In addition, the 12 made treys were the most in game since making 12 3-pointers against Missouri S&T last season.
 
Along with scoring a season high 90 points, sophomore guard Christy Fortune (Appleton, Wis./West) scored a career high 36 points and added 10 rebounds for her first career double-double. Fortune finished the night 11-for-16 from the field, including an 8-for-12 effort from the 3-point line. Fortune scored 22 of her 36 points in the second half, including 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting from downtown in the fourth quarter. The 36 points is tied for fourth most points scored in a game in the program's history and the most points since senior guard Jenna Krause (Seymour, Wis./Seymour) scored 36 points against Bellarmine on Jan. 9, 2020.
 
Fortune wasn't the only Bearcat to have a career high night offensively as second-year freshman guard Clare Breden (Jerseyville, Ill./Jerseyville Community) scored a career high 22 points and added a career high seven rebounds and a career high five assists, while redshirt junior guard Kaelyn Froebe (Lincoln, Ill./Lincoln) came four points shy of her career high of 21 points as she scored 17 points and added a career high eight rebounds on the night.
 
Both teams put on a three-point shooting contest on Tuesday as the Blackburn finished the game making 15 of their 35 three-point shots as they shot 42.9 percent from downtown, including going 10-for-22 (45.5 percent) from the 3-point line in the first half to trail 41-36 at the half.
 
Ironically, both teams came into the game struggling from the 3-point line on the season as Blackburn was shooting just 17 percent (31-for-185) from the 3-point line, while McKendree was shooting just 30 percent (14-for-46) from long distance.
 
Blackburn jumped out to an 8-0 lead just two minutes into the game and led 14-4 following a 3-pointer by Courtnee Riley with 5:14 left in the first quarter, before the Bearcats used a 10-0 run keyed by seven points by Fortune to tie the game at 14-all. The Beavers, though, would come back with consecutive treys from Hanna Box to take a 20-14 lead with 2:34 left in the quarter.
 
The Bearcats, though, would respond with an 8-0 run capped by back-to-back treys from Breden and Fortune to close the quarter and take a 22-20 lead after the opening 10 minutes of action.
 
McKendree would open the second quarter on a 5-0 run to push its lead to 27-20 a little less than 90 seconds into the quarter. Blackburn would not go away as the Beavers responded with a 14-5 run that was capped with four straight treys to retake the lead at 34-32 with 5:12 left in the quarter.
 
The Bearcats would answer back and close the quarter on a 9-2 run to take a 41-36 lead at the half. The first half closing run was capped by a basket in the paint off an offensive rebound by Breden with two seconds left.
 
In the first half, the teams combined to make 16 of their 31 shots and 15 of their 33 3-pointers.
 
The Bearcats would outscore the Beavers, 29-18 in the third quarter to push its lead to 70-53 heading into the fourth quarter. In the quarter, Fortune and Breden combined for 16 points, including Fortune going 5-for-6 from the free throw line.
 
Blackburn would open the fourth quarter by scoring 10 of the first 16 points to cut McKendree's lead to 76-63 with 4:50 left in the quarter. That would be as close as the Beavers would get as the Bearcats used an 11-2 run to push its lead to 87-65 with 1:37 left in the game. The 22 point lead would the largest of the game for the Bearcats.
 
The Beavers would score six of the final nine points to cap the scoring and cut the final margin to 19 points.
 
Aryanna Harris and Box each had 12 points for the Blackburn, while Mariah Hopson and Madison Duncan each added nine points and Riley tallied eight points in the game.
 
McKendree finished the night shooting a season-best 49 percent from the field and shot 70 percent (14-for-20) from the free throw line, while Blackburn shot 38 percent from the field and 55 percent (6-for-11) from the free throw line.
 
The Bearcats held a 47-31 edge on the boards as five Bearcats had five or more rebounds in the contest and dished out 25 assists on 32 made baskets as along with Fortune's five assists, senior guard Haley Zylka (Oak Creek, Wis./Oak Creek) and sophomore guard Erin Golden (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) each dished out a career-high five assists for the game.
 
The two teams combined for 26 turnovers and the Bearcats blocked six shots with Golden and Breden each recording three blocked shots. Blackburn had 14 turnovers that led to 21 points, while McKendree had 12 turnovers that led to 12 points by the Beavers.
 
McKendree will return to action on Monday, Nov. 29 as they open its 2021-22 Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule with a 5:30 p.m. game at the University of Illinois-Springfield.