Bulldog women put up a battle

By STEVE SELL, Sentinel Sports Editor

McPherson College's women had upset thoughts dancing in their heads for a while here Saturday night.

The Bulldogs led third-place Ottawa 21-13 and were looking like a completely different team than the one that had lost to last-place Kansas Wesleyan two nights before.

But Ottawa, knowing its KCAC titles hopes would be gone with a loss, got it together the rest of the way for a 67-56 victory.

Ottawa is 12-4 in the conference, two games back of Sterling and a game back of Southwestern, a team it plays Thursday.

For the Bulldogs, it dropped them to 5-11 in the KCAC and with games left against Bethany and Southwestern, it's looking more and more like they could be headed to a play-in game.

"I thought we played a lot better tonight, but we made too many turnovers," said Mac coach Mel Wright, whose team is 11-13 overall. "It's kind of a pattern we've had a lot lately."

Ottawa used a 24-9 run to close out the first half for a 37-30 lead. The Bulldogs clawed back to get the game tied at 43-all and had a couple of chances to take the lead, but the Braves dominated the final five minutes.

Erica Alvarez just missed a double-double with 17 points and 9 rebounds to lead Mac on Senior Night. Andi Wilder and Crystal Richardson added 10 apiece. Mac was just 3 of 24 from 3-point, which probably was the difference in the game.

Gina Wheat led the senior-laden Braves with 15 points, while Tina Rush and Amanda Stichler added 13 apiece.

Mac is home Thursday against Bethany, which is chasing Tabor for the fourth and final homecourt spot for the playoffs. The Swedes are a game back of the Bluejays.

Mac (56) -- Schierling 2 1-2 5; Tello 1 0-0 2; Richardson 3 4-6 10; Suiter 0 1-2 1; Mayhan 2 0-0 5; Wilder 3 2-2 10; Kline 3 0-0 6; Alvarez 7 3-7 17. Totals -- 21 11-19 56. 3-pointers -- Wilder 2, Mayhan 1.

Ottawa (67) -- Lannan 4 1-1 9; Harger 0 2-2 2; Rush 5 2-3 13; Wheat 5 4-7 15; Boyce 0 5-8 5; McGinnis 1 0-1 2; Bryoles 3 0-0 8; Stichler 6 0-1 13. Totals -- 24 14-23 67. 3-pointers -- Broyles 2, Rush 1, Wheat 1, Stichler 1.