Pride overcome shaky opening quarter to earn 18-point victory at CMU
FAYETTE, Mo. - In a return trip to the location of their last loss nearly 11 months ago in the 2023 Heart of America Tournament Championship, the Clarke University women's basketball team earned their first win in a conference rematch game this season in a 78-60 win over Central Methodist University on Monday afternoon.
It was a less-than-expected start for the Pride as they trailed by as much as 11 points in the opening period at 18-7 for CMU before eventually exiting the first quarter down seven points at 21-14 following a Charli Wroe three pointer at the buzzer.
The offensive struggle in those first 10 minutes saw CU shoot 4-of-18 (22.2%) from the field and miss all seven of their three point while their opponents went 9-for-15 (60%) and hit half of their six three point shot attempts to gain plenty of confidence heading into the second.
Clarke would return to form, especially defensively, outscoring the Eagles 64-39 over the remaining 30 minutes of the game and holding CMU to 11-of-38 (28.9%) shooting from the field for the last three quarters as they would only hit three more three pointers during the rest of the game.
For the Pride on offense, it wasn't their most memorable offensive game but they would go on to hit eight triples and only miss three of their 27 free throw attempts to win quarters two through four by eight, six, and 11 points respectively.
After a season-high 31-point performance in the first meeting, CU senior Nicole McDermott produced a 22-point, 13-rebound double-double to lead the game in both categories as she went 7-of-15 (46.7%) from the field while adding three assists and two steals.
Zutorya Cook for Central Methodist wasn't far behind McDermott's scoring output as she put up 21 for the Eagles but missed seven of her 12 free throw attempts while adding seven rebounds and two assists on an efficient 7-of-10 (70%) shooting day.
The major offensive difference came from the depth scoring as Taylor Norris (15), Taylor Haase (12), and Mya Merschman (12) all produced double figures with Izzie Peterson (7), Maci Kuchta (5), and Madison Lindauer (5) all producing at least a three pointer from the field as CMU only had two others behind Cook in double digits in the 11 from Sharay Trotter and 10 from Miaya Ware.
The Pride have now won both games against the team that handed them three of their four losses of 2022-23 by a combined 45-point margin of victory between the home game on Nov. 15 and the road game exactly two months later on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Clarke will have Wednesday off from game action before returning to the Kehl Center to host Benedictine College for a 12:00 p.m. CT tip against the Ravens on Saturday to start a three-game homestand that includes the rescheduled home game against Peru State College on Monday, Jan. 22 that was moved off of last Saturday due to travel concerns around weather.