Liberal, Kansas – The Lady Saints ended their 2023-24 regular season on Wednesday night as they honored their seven sophomores with a big win over the Pratt Beavers where despite falling behind by double figures entering the halftime break, superb defense and elite scoring in the fourth quarter propelled Seward County to a 67-62 win to wrap up the regular season.
The opening quarter was rough on the offensive end for the Lady Saints where SCCC could only sink one shot in the first nine minutes thanks to an early layup from Allie Myers. Finally, Kezia Grant-Bobb was able to lift the lid on the rim as she entered in off the bench to score back-to-back layups for Seward County to close the gap and end the first quarter behind 21-11.
Grant-Bobb put the Lady Saints on her back as she kept punishing the Beavers down low in the paint to help cut the deficit down to five at 24-19 midway through the second, but a 9-0 run by Pratt put Seward County into rough territory as they trailed 33-19 entering the halftime break.
While the first two quarters saw the Lady Saints struggle to score, the third resulted in more success from the field with Myers opening the half with a quick layup that Xoe Roslaez followed with a big corner three to trim the Beaver’s lead to 36-24. Another three from the sophomore guard combined with a triple by Jamia Carter put SCCC within single digits and Kayla Peoples added in on the sophomore scoring with a long range three of her own to put the score at 47-38 Pratt before entering the fourth behind 49-38.
The final ten minutes were a lot of fun to watch if you wore the color green as the Lady Saints opened the fourth with another three from Peoples while a slash down the lane from Rosalez put the score back within nine four minutes in. An 11-0 run locked the game up between the two Jayhawk conference opponents as Myers and Ari Gordon combined for two straight scores off of Pratt turnovers and moments later they took the lead off a clutch three from Myers at the top of the arc to go up by one 61-60. A final fast break score from Rosalez tied it up with a nice bow to to finish their regular season with a big conference win 67-62 over the Beavers.
Myers led the way for Seward County with 22 points and 10 rebounds in just 22 minutes of action. Rosalez scored 13 points all in the second half while Grant-Bobb chipped in 11 as she held down the fort in the first half for the Lady Saints to stay in reach.
Seward County wraps up the regular season with a winning record of 16-14 overall and a .500 record in conference action 12-12 to place sixth in the KJCCC standings entering playoff action. They will remain in Liberal this weekend for the first round of the Region VI tournament when they host Pratt once again as they look to repeat their win against the Beavers.
