Bench duo of Norris and Lindauer vital in Pride's 80-67 win over Central Methodist
DUBUQUE, Iowa - In a rematch of the last two Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship Games, the Clarke University women's basketball team earned an 80-67 victory over Central Methodist in the first round of the Heart Tournament on Wednesday night.
The theme of the night was the Pride taking a good shot from CMU early in quarters and being able to withstand and push to their advantage as CU won every quarter despite the Eagles starting the first up 7-3 over the opening two minutes, opening the second half on a 9-0 run to cut a 45-35 halftime lead to 45-44 in the first four minutes of the third, and grabbing the first two buckets of the fourth quarter to get within seven points.
At the end of the night, the Heart regular season champs were too much for the reigning Heart Regular Season and Tournament champions from 2022-23 as Clarke finished with four scorers in double figures led by 23 off the bench from Taylor Norris, scoring 19 of those 23 in the first half and 10 of that 19 in a second quarter where she went 4-for-4 from the field and 2-for-2 from three point range. Adding four rebounds, two assists, and two steals, that 23 points comes one point shy of matching her season-high with the Pride in her first year since tranferring in as she broke the 20-point threshold on two other occasions this season, both other times coming in the Kehl Center.
Joining Norris as the only other member of the Pride off the bench was Madison Lindauer as the senior finished with 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting, all from three point range, while also grabbing four rebounds then adding an assist and a steal as she was able to nail three of her four makes in the second half at vital times as some of the CU offense had hit lulls in the third and fourth quarters.
That duo of Lindauer and Norris combining for 37 points off the bench outscored Central Methodist's bench by 30 points as Clarke also used an 18-8 made free throws advantage along with a 10-5 made three pointers advantage to really separate from the Eagles.
Finishing with almost identical statlines were Nicole McDermott and Taylor Haase as both finished with 18-point, 12-rebound double-doubles as Haase was more efficient from the field shootnig 5-of-9 (55.6%) while McDermott dished out more helpers, adding a game-high five assists on the night.
The Eagles had three players in double figures in B'Aunce Carter's 17, Tynesha Parnell's 15, and Zutorya Cook's 14 as Parnell was a threat in the first quarter, especially from three point range scoring 11 of her 15 in the opening 10 minutes while knocking down all three of her three-point makes in the period as well.
The Pride will move on to the semifinals of the Heart Tournament where they will host Benedictine College with a start time still to be determined at the Kehl Center on Saturday, Mar. 2. Fans can stay up to date on the start time of Saturday's game between the Pride and Ravens on social media at facebook.com/clarkepride, @ClarkeAthletics or @ClarkeWBB on X, and @clarkewbb on Instagram.