Bench Sparks Lady Saints to Another Win

The #20 Seward County Lady Saints rolled to yet another Jayhawk Conference win Tuesday night in the Greenhouse, but it wasn’t Oklahoma State signee Clitan de Sousa or Oregon State signee Joanna Grymek leading the way to victory, it was the Seward bench which pitched in 32 points on 60% shooting to push the Lady Saints past Barton 87-48 to leave the gals in green the final unbeaten team in the conference this season.

For the second straight game, the Lady Saints opened up the night by scoring the first seven points of the contest to take control early with a 7-0 lead just 1:15 into the game. Barton put a bucket in to get on the board a few moments later, but the Cougars had no answer for the Lady Saints multifaceted attack as Seward connected on each of their first 12 field goal attempts in the game, blowing things open early on with a 28-11 lead after less than eight minutes of action. Seward finally missed their first shot with 2:04 left in the first quarter and didn’t score again in the period, but after 10 minutes of play it was Seward County 28 and Barton 13.

Seward continued to pile on the points as the second quarter began, getting an old fashioned three point play by Clitan de Sousa three minutes in to push their lead to 36-18. A pair of late three pointers send the Lady Saints into the locker rooms at half with a nice cushion as Seward held a 45-22 advantage at the half. The Lady Saints shot an even 50% in the half led by 14 from Mollie Mounsey and nine each from Erin Richardson and de Sousa. Barton on the other hand shot just 33% and turned the ball over 14 times.

Barton scored the first four of the second half and it took the Lady Saints a while to get going, but after they did, they went on an 11-0 run, holding the Cougars without a single point for over six and a half minutes to blow their lead open to 56-26. A late dish from Alex Tyson to Manuela Fungate was good for two and after three quarters of action it was all Lady Saints with Seward in front 59-30.

To begin the fourth quarter it was cue the Seward bench for Coach Toby Wynn. The Lady Saints reserves took over and did not relent, scoring with ease early in the period to give Seward their biggest lead to that point of the night at 69-33 as Vanessa Caro scored after a sweep dish from Diamond Bailey. With their lead still at 30 late in the fourth, Seward stepped on the gas again, scoring 14 points in the final 3:09 including back to back threes from Valerie Caro and three smooth finishes from Bailey on the drive to finish off the Cougars 87-46.

While Mounsey led the Seward offense that shot 54% in the game with 16 points, the real story was the Lady Saints bench. Playing the entire fourth quarter, the Seward reserves were 12 for 14 from the floor, scoring 28 points to finish off the win. Bailey scored a career high 11 on 5-5 shooting while Valerie Caro scored a career high eight and Fungate again contributed heavily on the glass with a team best seven rebounds on the night.

The Lady Saints improve to 6-0 on the year and 4-0 in Jayhawk Conference play where they are now the final unbeaten team in the league after Cowley was upset by Butler in Ark City Tuesday night. Barton falls to 5-3 overall and 2-2 in league action with the defeat.

Next up for the Lady Saints is a trip to the Beaver Dome in Pratt for a matinee affair on Saturday to take on a struggling Beaver squad who is 0-4 in conference play and has been outscored by a total of 106 points in their past two games.

#20 SEWARD COUNTY/BARTON BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/wbkb/2016-17/boxscores/20161122_j1th.xml?view=boxscore>

Roy Allen