Second-half
drought costly for Mustangs
Posted
12/29/07 7:20 PM
Jessie Dirks |
Kelli Dabroski |
DUBUQUE, Iowa
-- An eight-minute scoring drought and 21 percent field goal shooting
in the second half by Mount Mercy College added up to a 72-56
loss to the University of Illinois-Springfield in the second round
of the Clarke College Holiday Tournament Saturday at the Kehl
Center.
The two-time
defending champion Mustangs (4-11), who had won seven straight
games at the annual holiday tournament until Friday's opening
round loss to Robert Morris College (Ill.), are out of the tourney
and will have a week-and-a-half off before resuming Midwest Collegiate
Conference play at Waldorf College on Wednesday, Jan. 9, at 5:30
p.m. at Hanson Fieldhouse in Forest City, Iowa.
Mount Mercy
shot 57 percent from the floor in the opening period while building
a 40-32 halftime lead. The game changed dramatically after the
break, however, as the Mustangs made only 7-of-33 field goal attempts
in the second half. An eight-minute scoreless stretch that included
16 straight points by the Prairie Stars (5-10) turned a two-point
Mount Mercy lead into a 14-point deficit that the Mustangs couldn't
overcome.
Junior guard
Jessie Dirks nailed four 3-pointers and led three Mustangs in
double figures with 16 points. Junior guard Kelli Dabroski added
13 points and junior forward Katie Manning 10, all in the first
half. Dabroski grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Senior forward
Addie McCreedy had five boards and four steals.
Tiffany Sproat
put up a game-high 21 points to lead Illinois-Springfield. Chereena
Douglass chipped in 13 points and hauled down 19 rebounds, leading
the Prairie Stars to almost a 2-to-1 advantage on the glass (52-27).
Sproat collected seven boards and seven of her team's 12 steals.
After its
contest at Waldorf, Mount Mercy travels to Davenport, Iowa, on
Saturday, Jan. 12, to take on NAIA Division II 15th-ranked St.
Ambrose University at 1:00 p.m. at Lee Lohman Arena.
