Big Second Half Propels Lady Saints to Win

Year by year, the second Friday of December is a game
that Seward County Lady Saints fans look forward to as they know it is
time for the Pizza Hut Classic and they know that it will be a good game
when Northeastern comes to town. This year was no different early on as
the teams were tied at the half before Seward put things in another gear
in the second half to come out with a 71-55 win.

The Lady Saints bolted out of the gates to a 9-0 lead
against the Plainswomen before Northeastern came back into the game as
the Seward offense went into a funk. A 15-2 run midway through the
first half put the Plainswomen in front for the first time in the game
26-23 but Seward finished the half better and the teams were deadlocked
at 28 at the break. Northeastern had 14 first half turnovers and shot
34% while the Lady Saints had 12 and hit 36% of their shots. Both teams
struggled from beyond the arc where the Lady Saints were just 2 for 12
and Northeastern was 2 for 8 and neither team was impressive from the
free throw line as they combined to go 4 for 12.

The second half was a different story for the gals in
green as Seward took control and persisted on getting the ball inside
where they quickly opened up a lead and never looked back. The Lady
Saints led by double digits midway through the period and finished the
game strong, going up by as many as 20 before sailing to a 71-55 win
over the Plainswomen. Seward shot 58% in the second half and buried 12
of 13 free throws while Northeastern had just 6 field goals and shot
24%.

Ashlynn Knoll paced Seward with 23 points, 7 rebounds,
and 5 steals while Anete Kirsteine pitched in 14 points and 7 boards.
Hanna Bognar played 22 solid minutes for Seward inside and finished with
7 points, 9 rebounds, and a handful of blocked shots while Mariah Lee
was in foul trouble and finished with just 6.

The Lady Saints pick up their 10th win of the season and
will wrap up the first half Saturday night at 6:00 with a date against
Trinidad State who lost a close game in the early contest 47-44 to Dodge
City.

Roy Allen