Michels gets her 1,000 points as Pride pull away from MidAmerica Nazarene 80-70

DUBUQUE, Iowa - In their second-straight Saturday home game against an opponent that held a win over them, the Clarke University women's basketball team exacted a bit of revenge in an 80-70 win over MidAmerica Nazarene in the Kehl Center.

The Pride had yet another individual milestone as well with senior guard Giana Michels reaching 1,000 career points joining current teammates Emma Kelchen and Nicole McDermott as members of the Pride to do so during the 2022-23 season and becoming the 17th player in program history to reach the mark.

"Giana is the definition of discipline," head coach Courtney Boyd said. "Discipline has gotten her to where she is on the court, she is now part of the select few, and we couldn't be happier for her. Fighting through injury, surgeries, changes in her role on the court, and now earning her spot in the 1,000-point club is just another great accolade added to her career."

All of Michels' points came in the fourth quarter as she finished with nine, needing eight to reach the 1,000 mark, as she went on a 7-0 run herself in a stretch just over a minute to pull CU from up 61-49 to up 68-49 as those points loomed large with the Pioneers pulling within six points in the late stages.

That tight lead in the end was held by clutch free throw shooting from Mya Merschman as the sophomore went a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe in the final 33 seconds of the game to ice it in favor of the Pride.

The Pioneers were up for the challenge as they hung in the game in its entirety, keeping it at a one-point game after a quarter but Clarke was able to extend that lead in each of the following two quarters by seven in the second and by four in the third.

Clarke's third quarter was powered by a 10-point period from senior center Emma Kelchen as she would finish with a game-high 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field while adding eight rebounds. Tina Ubl (14), McDermott (10), and Merschman (10) were the other members of the Pride in double figures as McDermott added 11 rebounds for her seventh double figure rebounding game of the season and sixth double-double of the season.

MNU's pair of of 17-point performances from Trel'Shawn Smith and Arielle Sargent carried their offense as they also got two 12-point performances off the bench from Rachel Seibold and Allison French.

Clarke will now head into the final week of the regular season with a road game next up on Wednesday, Feb. 15 when they travel to Peru, Neb. for a matchup against Peru State College.