Staring at a 25-24 deficit at halftime, Kentucky Wesleyan blanked the Ursuline Arrows in the third quarter en-route to a 53-44 win. Seniors Emma Johnson, Leah Richardson and Rachel Richardson were all honored before the game for their accomplishments in a Panther uniform.
With the win, the Panthers move to 18-9 (15-6 GMAC), while Ursuline falls to 10-15 (7-13 GMAC).
From the tip, both teams played very physical defense and used great ball movement to score on offense. Ursuline kept the lead throughout the first quarter, with the Panthers cutting it to as close to a point with a Reeve Hammelman layup near the end of the quarter. The Arrows took a 15-12 lead into the second quarter.
In the second quarter KWC took their first lead of the game on a Tahlia Walton layup three minutes in. Wesleyan used a jumper from Rachel Richardson and a three from Jordyn Barga to take a 24-20 lead at the halfway mark of the quarter, but the Arrows held the Panthers scoreless the rest of the half and Wesleyan went into the half down 25-24.
Coming out of the locker room, the Panthers completely locked down on defense and outscored the Arrows 17-0 in the quarter. A Shiya Hoosier jumper early on gave the Panthers their lead back and the defense secured it the rest of the way. KWC forced the Arrows to go 0-20 in the frame. while they shot an impressive 7-10 themselves, including 3-5 from three.
Leading by 16 entering the final 10 minutes of the game, the Panthers had no troubles closing out the Arrows. Ursuline cut the lead to nine three and a half minutes in the quarter but two straight Cali Nolot buckets killed any momentum the Arrows thought they had. Wesleyan led by as many as 17 late in the quarter and cruised to the nine-point win.
The Panthers scoring attack was led by Barga who finished with 14 points. Barga and Johnson both hauled in 8 rebounds, while Johnson led with four helpers.
Wesleyan shot 23-53 (43.4%) from the field and 5-27 (18.5%) from three-point range. Ursuline shot 17-60 (28.3%) from the floor and 5-22 (22.7%) from behind the arc.
KWC is the No. 3 seed in the G-MAC Conference Tournament and will host No. 6 seed Malone at 12 p.m. on Tuesday.
