First half struggles too much to overcome in Pride loss to No. 6 Central Methodist

FAYETTE, Mo. - In a rematch of the 2022 Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament Championship, the Clarke University women's basketball team would fall victim to a bit of revenge as No. 6 Central Methodist University would hold home court in a 71-64 win over the Pride on Saturday afternoon.

It was a first half to forget for CU as the Eagles would pull out to a 36-20 halftime advantage as the Pride shot under 35 percent in each period with CMU shooting 43.8 percent and 47.1 percent in the first two quarters to pull ahead to their double digit lead.

Central Methodist can likely credit their win to a third quarter which saw Clarke improve their offensive performance but the Eagles held strong to boost their lead up a point by the end of the period in a 16-15 quarter to lead by 17.

That 17 point lead was crucial for CMU as the Pride would spark a fierce comeback in the fourth quarter to outscore the Eagles 29-19 in the period behind some timely stops and foul trouble for Central Methodist as three Eagles fouled out in the fourth with CU shooting 18 free throws as they were in the bonus with over six minutes remaining in the game.

"[CMU] is always a tough place to play," head coach Courtney Boyd said. "They came out and knocked down a few more shots than we did in the first half but I'm very happy with how we handled the adversity being on the road and fighting back until the buzzer sounded."

Clarke's starting unit of Skylar Culbertson, Nicole McDermott, Giana Michels, Tina Ubl, and Emma Kelchen put in the heavy lifting, all with over 30 minutes played in the game as Ubl, McDermott, and Kelchen were the only players in double figures for the Pride.

Ubl scored a season-high 19 points on 7-of-17 (41.2%) shooting from the field as she knocked down half of the team's three point shots in a rough 4-for-20 (20.0%) shooting day from deep. Ubl was able to grab six rebounds and give steals in her best game of the season as the 19 points were also just three off of her career-high of 22 that she set last season.

McDermott and Kelchen added 17 and 11 respectively as Kelchen added 10 rebounds for a double-double, and McDermott had a similar statline to Ubl with six rebounds and four steals.

The Pride had trouble containing Kelchen's counterpart Leah Johnson as the CMU post player finished with 20 points and 15 rebounds with 10 of her rebounds coming on the offensive end as she also blocked four CU shots around the rim.

Leianya Massenat was the game's leading scorer with 21 points as she was a rebound away from a double-double of her own as she was clutch for CMU down the stretch knocking down all six of her free throws in the final 40 seconds of the game to keep the Pride out of striking distance.

Clarke women's basketball will have a quicker than usual turnaround to get ready for their next opponent as they will host Graceland University on Tuesday, Nov. 29 for a 5:30 p.m. CT tip off at the Kehl Center before they play three-straight on the road.