Pride shut down Central Methodist for second-straight Heart Tournament Championship
DUBUQUE, Iowa - For the second year in a row, the Clarke University women's basketball team is the Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament Champions following a 56-44 victory over No. 15 Central Methodist University on Tuesday night.
The victory makes the Pride double champions in the Heart to claim regular season and tournament titles for the first time in program history.
The game was a knock down drag out defensive battle between the North and South Division's top teams as Clarke shot 37.3 percent from the field but stifled the Eagles offense to force them to just 23.6 percent shooting from the field in the game as CMU also went 1-for-19 (5.3%) from beyond the three point line.
Leading the way in scoring and rebounding for the Pride was sophomore guard Nicole McDermott as she scored 18 points and grabbed 15 rebounds while adding two assists and three steals on the night on 8-of-15 (53.3%) shooting from the field.
Starters played heavy minutes for CU McDermott leading the way at 39 minutes played as Giana Michels (37), Tina Ubl (31), and Skylar Culbertson (30) all broke the 30-minute threshold with Emma Kelchen just shy at 28 minutes per game. Ubl was the only other Clarke player in double figures in scoring as she also produced a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds going a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line.
An early turning point in the game was the Pride taking a 9-6 CMU lead and turning it into a 17-9 lead at the end of the first quarter, finishing the quarter on an 11-0 run that extended to 19-2 as CU lead by a 25-11 score with 2:56 left to go in the second quarter.
No strangers to holding teams to single-digit scoring quarters, Clarke held the Eagles to just 14 points at halftime on the nine first quarter points and just five second quarter points to lead 28-14 at the break, which allowed tight third and fourth quarters to keep the Pride's lead in double figures as the closest Central Methodist cut the lead in the second half was 12 points on various occasions and 11 points with 1:07 remaining in the game.
For CMU, Eternati Willock finished with a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double in 32 minutes of action as Kedranea' Addison finished with 13 points off the bench as the only two players in double figures in scoring for the Eagles in the game. Heart Player of the Year Arleighshya McElroy was held to just two points on 1-of-9 shooting from the field as she played the entire first half but did not see the floor in the second half.
Now for the Pride, the postseason will continue onto the NAIA Tournament, beginning with the Opening Round as the brackets for the Opening Rounds will be revealed by the NAIA this Thursday at 6:00 p.m. on the NAIA's Facebook page at https://bit.ly/35GGjss with Clarke looking to nab a No. 1 seed in one of the four-team brackets.