LEBANON, Ill. – McKendree University closed the regular season portion of its 2021-22 home schedule here Saturday afternoon with a 69-53 setback to Maryville University in Great Lakes Valley Conference play on Senior Day, Alumni Day and Pink-Out Day at the Melvin Price Convocation Center.
 
Prior to Saturday's game, the Bearcats honored its four seniors in a pregame ceremony and this year's four seniors are guard Sydney Diekhoff (Pekin, Ill./Pekin Community), guard Madison Jones (Abingdon, Ill./Lincoln Land CC), guard Jenna Krause (Seymour, Wis./Seymour) and guard Haley Zylka (Oak Creek, Wis./Oak Creek).
 
With the setback, McKendree dropped its sixth straight game and moves its record to 3-19 overall and 2-13 in the GLVC, while Maryville improved to 12-12 overall and 8-10 in the league.
 
Along with honoring its four seniors, the Bearcats also raised money as part of the "Coach Kerkhoff 3-Point Challenge" for former Bearcat Abby (Smith) Talley, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. For the game, the Bearcats finished with eight made 3-pointers and raised nearly $1,800 for Talley and her family. Each 3-pointer made by the Bearcats was worth $220.
 
Second-year freshman guard Clare Breden (Jerseyville, Ill./Jerseyville) was the lone Bearcat in double figures as she finished with 10 points and added five rebounds and three assists, while sophomore guard Christy Fortune (Appleton, Wis./Appleton West) added nine points and Krause finished with eight points in the loss.
 
With the 10 points, Breden has now scored in double figures in six of her last seven games and leads the team with 14 double-digit scoring efforts.
 
Despite scoring just five points, Diekhoff did manage to take over fourth place by herself on the school's career 3-pointers made chart as she has now made 166. She entered the game tied for fourth on the list with Brandi Higgins, who made 165 treys as a Bearcat from 1992-96. Diekhoff is also now 37 points shy of tying Katie Hasheider for 10th on the school's all-time scoring chart as she scored 1,258 points from 2003-07.
 
After trailing by as much as 19 points just a little over two-plus minutes into the fourth quarter, the Bearcats would mount a comeback as they used a 13-5 run over the next four-plus minutes to pull within 64-53 following a trey by Jones with 2:52 left in the game. The run was keyed by six points from Krause and capped by five points from Jones.
 
That would be as close as the Bearcats would get as Maryville would make 5-of-6 free throws over the final 82 seconds of the contest to seal its second win this season over the Bearcats.
 
Taylor Kirby and Antoinette Mussorici paced the way offensively for the Saints as they combined for 40 points as Kirby tallied a career-high 21 points, Mussorici added 19 points and eight rebounds.
 
Those two players combined to score 20 of Maryville's 36 first half points as they led 36-24 at the half. In the first half, Maryville made 53 percent of their field goal attempts and held a 21-10 margin on the boards, while McKendree shot 35 percent (9-for-26) from the field and was 5-for-17 (29 percent) from the 3-point line.
 
Maryville led 17-9 after the first quarter and was outscored the Bearcats, 19-14 in the second quarter.
 
McKendree opened the third quarter on a 10-8 run to pull within 44-34 following a lay-up from sophomore guard Erin Golden (Batavia, Ill./Batavia), before the Saints used a 7-0 run to push in front 51-34 with 3:31 left in the quarter.
 
A lay-up and a free throw by Breden that completed a three-point play pushed the Bearcats within 51-37, but Maryville would respond by hitting four straight free throws to push its lead to 55-37 with 1:35 left in the period. Fortune would drill the sixth trey of the game for the Bearcats with 1:09 left to drop MU's lead to 55-40 after three quarters.
 
For the game, McKendree finishing shooting 36 percent from the field and 25 percent (8-for-32) from the 3-point line. The 32 3-point attempts were a season high.
 
Meanwhile, Maryville shot 43 percent from the field and just 20 percent (3-for-15) from the 3-point line.
 
The Saints also held a 41-28 edge on the boards and held a 20-7 advantage in free throw attempts as Maryville went 16-for-20 (80 percent) at the line, while McKendree was 5-for-7 (71 percent) from the line.
 
McKendree also committed 15 turnovers that led to 18 points for Maryville, while Maryville had 13 turnovers that led to 16 points for the Bearcats.
 
The Bearcats also had 14 assists as Zylka, Breden, Golden and Fortune each had three steals on the day.
 
McKendree will return to action in little more less than 48 hours as they travel to Romeoville, Ill., for a 5:30 p.m. game on Monday, Feb. 21 against Lewis University. The game was originally scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 15, but was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols within the Lewis program. Lewis earned a 69-50 win over the Bearcats in the first meeting earlier this season on Dec. 4 in Lebanon.