LIBERTY, Mo. – McKendree University women's basketball used a strong second and third quarter and a 22-for-24 effort from the free throw line to hold off a fourth quarter rally here Thursday evening from William Jewell College en route to earning a 58-48 victory in Great Lakes Valley Conference action at the Mabee Center.

With the victory, McKendree snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 3-13 overall and 2-7 in the GLVC, while WJC falls to 1-16 overall and 0-11 in the league.

The 22 made free throws tied a season high for the Bearcats, including a 10-for-11 effort from the line in the third quarter as the Bearcats outscored the Cardinals, 22-11 to hold a 52-34 lead heading to the fourth quarter.
 
"I really liked how we came out at halftime and the big difference was we got to the free throw line in the third quarter and stayed aggressive," McKendree women's basketball coach Kari Kerkhoff said following the game. "While we were aggressive in the third quarter, we were also looking to score, where in the fourth quarter, we shot too many 3-pointers and settled for shots. The third quarter was the big difference as we outscored them (Jewell), 22-11."
 
Second-year freshman guard Clare Breden (Jerseyville, Ill./Jerseyville Community) paced the Bearcats with 15 points, while redshirt senior guard Sydney Diekhoff (Pekin, Ill./Pekin Community) added a season high 14 points and sophomore guard Christy Fortune (Appleton, Wis./Appleton West) chipped in with 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Breden was 7-for-7 from the free throw line, while Diekhoff was 5-for-5 from the line and sophomore guard Erin Golden (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) was 4-for-4 at the line and has now made 21 consecutive free throws on the season.
 
"I thought our free throw shooting tonight was tremendous, especially in the third quarter, plus we did a good job defensively to not foul them and put them on the free throw line," Kerkhoff said.
 
Jewell jumped out to a 7-4 lead and led 10-8 with 1:58 left in the first quarter, before Fortune hit two free throws to tie the game at 10 with 1:41 left and then senior guard Haley Zylka (Oak Creek, Wis./Oak Creek) drilled her first 3-pointer of the season to the Bearcats a 13-10 lead with 1:09 left in the opening quarter.
 
The 3-pointer by Zylka was just the second of her four year McKendree career and the first since hitting a 3-pointer at UMSL as a freshman on Nov. 29, 2018. Zylka is now 2-for-10 in her career from the 3-point line.
 
Zylka's trey began a 10-4 run for the Bearcats over the next five-plus minutes as they pushed its lead to 23-14 with 5:51 left in the second quarter. McKendree lead 13-12 after the first quarter.
 
Jewell would stop the Bearcats run by scoring four consecutive points to drop McKendree's lead to 23-18, but the Bearcats came right back and scored seven of the next 10 points to push in front 30-21 following two free throws by senior guard Jenna Krause (Seymour, Wis./Seymour). Libby Arnold capped the scoring in the second quarter for the Cardinals to drop McKendree's lead to 30-23 at the half.

The halftime lead was just the third time this season that the Bearcats led at the half this season, and are now 3-0 on the season when holding a halftime lead.

The third quarter proved to be the difference in Thursday's game as the Bearcats opened the quarter on a 10-4 run to push out to a 40-27 lead. The run began with a lay-up by Diekhoff and was capped by a trey from Fortune. The lead would eventually grow to as much 20 in the quarter following two free throws by Diekhoff with seven seconds remaining. Diekhoff's free throws made the score 52-32 in favor of the Bearcats.
 
Jewell would cap the third quarter scoring on a lay-up by Katelynn Ostronic right before the buzzer to cut McKendree's lead to 52-34 heading to the fourth quarter.
 
"I was really proud how well they executed the scouting report tonight. They listened to the scout. We talked the last couple of days about shutting down (Kate) Hillyer and (Katie) Knock and I thought we did a good job with that," Kerkhoff added.
 
The Cardinals, who have now lost nine consecutive games, would mount a comeback in the fourth quarter as they outscored the Bearcats 14-6 to cut the final margin to 10 points.
 
In fact, Jewell had the game within seven points at 54-47 following a basket by Kate Hillyer with 3:24 left in the game. That would be as close as the Cardinals would get as Breden hit two free throws with 2:20 left to push McKendree's lead to 56-47. Breden would make it 58-47 following a lay-up with 1:26 remaining, before Lea Finn made 1-of-2 free throws with 1:10 left to cap the scoring.
 
Finn paced Jewell with a game-high 16 points, while Arnold added 14 points and eight rebounds and Hillyer tallied 11 points before fouling out late in the game. Knock, who entered the game as WJC's No. 3 scorer this season, was held scoreless in the game, but did pull down 10 rebounds for the Cardinals.
 
The Bearcats finished the game shooting 29 percent from the field and 29 percent from the 3-point line, while Jewell finished the game shooting 37 percent and 23 from the 3-point line.
 
While McKendree was strong from the free throw, Jewell went 5-for-11 (45.5 percent) from the line in the game.
 
McKendree held a 39-34 edge on the boards and forced the Cardinals into 21 turnovers that led 19 points for the Bearcats. McKendree committed 15 turnovers, but just five in the second half.
 
The 21 turnovers led to a season high 14 steals for the Bearcats as Breden had three, while Zylka, Golden, Krause and freshman guard Morgan Nettles (St. Louis, Mo./Clayton) each had two steals on the night.
 
McKendree will conclude its two game road trip to the Show Me State on Saturday, Jan. 29 as the Bearcats travel to Kirksville, Mo., for a 1 p.m. GLVC game against Truman State (13-6 overall, 9-2 GLVC). Truman State, who picked up a 79-55 win over the Bearcats in Lebanon, Ill., on Jan. 8, suffered a 78-66 home loss on Thursday to Southern Indiana.
 
"This win should give us some momentum heading into Saturday's game, but Truman is a high-powered offensive team and our transition defense is going to have to be on point," Kerkhoff said when asked about Saturday's game.