Pride women's basketball runs away with 82-68 win at Menlo
ATHERTON, Calif. – Traveling out to the west coast for a pair of contests, the Clarke University women's basketball team will take home a win in the regular season contest in the form of an 82-68 win over Menlo College.
The Pride and Oaks were locked in a tight battle for three quarters as the end of quarter margin in those first three quarters was either one point or two. CU ran away with the game in the fourth quarter, outscoring Menlo 32-16 in the final 10 minutes to lead by as many as 19 at an 80-61 lead with 2:05 left in the game.
A big key to the fourth quarter was the ball control and defense for Clarke as they only turned the ball over two times in the quarter after committing 10 turnovers through the first three quarters.
Part of the lack of turnovers was due in part to MC picking up five team fouls within the first 3:37 of the fourth quarter so every foul for the rest of the game would send the Pride to the free throw line.
Menlo also shot 36.8 percent from the field and 11.1 percent from three-point range to fall to that 16 points scored after their best quarter in the third saw the Oaks score 22.
The offensive leader for Clarke was Taylor Haase as she scored a career-high 16 points off the bench with eight of those 16 coming in the fourth quarter on 7-of-10 shooting from the field while adding three rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a blocked shot.
Four of the five starters finished in double figures as Giana Michels had 15 points, Nicole McDermott finished with 13, then both Emma Kelchen and Izzie Peterson added 11 points. The 11 for Peterson is also a career-high for the sophomore guard from Oregon, Wis. as she shot 5-for-11 from the field while adding a game-high five assists and grabbing three rebounds.
Menlo's Kiara Brown scored a game-high 20 points as one of only two players in double figures for the Oaks while adding 10 rebounds for a double-double. Jasmyne Huggins added 10 points off the bench on 5-of-8 shooting from the field as she only played 17 minutes.
Up next for the Pride will be an exhibition contest with defending NCAA D-I National Champions Stanford University this Saturday at 2:00 p.m. CT/12:00 p.m. PT.