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Mac ladies snare close one
By Joe Warren
Herald-Tribune
NEVADA, Mo. -- McDonald County's Melanie Bowers hit two free throws with 10 seconds left in the game to lift the visiting Lady Mustangs over the Nevada Lady Tigers Friday, 42-40.
Playing their first game since losing leading scorer Afton Baldwin for the season with a torn knee ligament, the Lady Tigers looked like a team trying to redefine itself against a scrappy McDonald County squad.
The Lady Tigers struggled to find an offensive rhythm and allowed the Lady Mustangs to hang around despite leading most of the game.
Nevada led by as many as six points on two different occasions, and trailed only briefly in the first half.
The Lady Tigers jumped out to a 5-0 lead as sophomore posts Lindsay Rice and Jordan Webb each scored underneath and Amanda Wilson added a free throw before Mac got on the board.
A 3-pointer by Lisa Pendrak gave Nevada an 11-5 lead late in the first period, and they led by four going into the second.
In the second quarter McDonald County made a 7-2 run spurred by Katie Price's consecutive buckets to pull ahead 14-13. A basket by Erica Klinksick gave Nevada the lead back, but freshman Jaimee Shields put McDonald County back on top with a three-point play.
The score remained 17-15 in favor of the Mustangs until Pendrak hit her second trey of the night to pull Nevada back on top.
That sparked an 8-0 run that had the Lady Tigers up 23-17 with five seconds left in the first half.
For the second straight game Nevada was victim of a hail mary shot at the end of a quarter, as McDonald County's Brenda Campbell hit a shot from just inside the half-court line as time expired in the second half to cut the lead to three.
That shot would come back to haunt the Lady Tigers as they ended up losing by two.
In the second half McDonald County worked the ball inside as Shields scored eight of her game-high 11 points from the post and Bowers scored all 10 of hers, mostly on pull up jumpers in the lane.
That Mustang duo scored all of McDonald County's points in the fourth quarter, as they slowed down the Nevada offense, and when the Lady Tigers could find open shots, they didn't connect, no matter how close to the basket they got.
Nevada missed numerous shots from point-blank range and struggled from the perimeter as well in the second half as they labored to keep up with the Lady Mustangs.
"We got some awful good looks," Nevada head coach Brent Bartlett said. "Shots that have been falling for us."
McDonald County wasn't hitting a high percentage either, but Shields and fellow post Kayce Delozier had their way on the offensive boards, providing the Mustangs with just enough opportunities that once they took the lead with three seconds remaining in the third period, they were able to keep Nevada from making any more big runs.
The final quarter did not have much scoring, but it didn't lack excitement.
The two teams combined for only 15 points, but neither team led by more than three, and every possession was magnified.
Also magnified was Nevada's lack of timeouts down the stretch.
The Lady Tigers used their final three timeouts in a span of 1:06 early in the fourth period, as they kept coming up with loose balls or getting caught without an inbounds outlet.
At the 4:41 mark Bartlett called time out because he was frustrated with the offense, and that left him without in a critical stretch.
Nevada and McDonald County were tied at 40 with under a minute to go. The Mustangs had missed two shots from underneath their own basket and Klinksick had rebounded with 20 seconds to play. She got the ball to Pendrak who then sailed a pass to Wilson at half court.
While Bartlett was trying to yell from the bench to hold for the last shot, the Nevada crowd had gotten into the game and Wilson couldn't hear him.
Wilson dribbled to the left wing and was left wide open from behind the arc with 15 seconds to play. She took the shot, still unable to hear Bartlett screaming from the bench.
The shot was strong and Bowers tracked down the long rebound, racing ahead of the Nevada defenders and trying to beat Pendrak, the lone Tiger in the backcourt. Pendrak fouled her in the act of shooting, putting the junior at the line for a pair. The guard nailed both with 10 seconds left on the clock and McDonald County had the lead.
Nevada tried to get a shot off but it was blocked for a jump ball with only 0.3 seconds left in the game. The inbounds pass was tipped away by Shields and the Mustangs improved to 8-7 overall, 2-0 in the Southwest Conference. Nevada dropped to 9-5, 1-2.
Notes: Friday was Courtwarming for Nevada and Pendrak was crowned Queen ... Baldwin will likely have surgery later this week on her torn left ACL. Klinksick started in her place.