Schedule
| Roster
| Stats
| Gallery | Signings | All-KCAC Honors
Lady Bulldogs split in KCAC, finish 13-16 overall
A tough pre-conference schedule including road games against NCAA D-II Fort Hays State and Emporia, plus perennial NAIA playoff teams Southern Nazarene and Mid America Nazarene, left the Lady Bulldogs with a 2-6 record for the month of November, entering conference play.
That schedule apparently did the job as McPherson was the surprise of December as it went 3-0 to open its conference schedule and move into an early tie for first place.
Losses to Tabor in its final December contest, and one at Sterling to open January, knocked the Bulldogs out of the conference lead. A win over Ottawa, followed by losses to Southwestern and at Friends dropped McPherson into the middle of the KCAC pack by mid-January. But, a five-game win-streak, thanks in part to a forfeit by Bethany, moved the Lady Bulldogs to 8-4 and 12-10 heading into February.
Suddenly, it was a tired team taking the floor for the Lady Bulldogs as they faced the top four teams in the conference during the first two weeks of February. Four straight losses put McPherson in the position of having to win at least one of its final two games of its regular season schedule to avoid the dreaded play-in round of the KCAC post-season tournament. That was exactly what the Lady Bulldogs did as they fell to Friends, then came back to beat the University of Saint Mary on the final night of the regular season and finish its KCAC schedule with a 9-9 record, good for sixth place.
The quarterfinals of the KCAC tournament sent the sixth seeded Lady Bulldogs to Wichita to meet the #3 seeded Lady Falcons. A back-and-forth contest, McPherson led by five in the second half, but couldn’t hang on as the Falcons took advantage of a 21 to 3 free throw differential in the period to pull out an eight-point win and end McPherson’s season with a 13-16 mark.
The Lady Bulldogs’ All-KCAC picks were led by senior Danell Brunk’s selection to the first team. Brunk, who came to McPherson last fall with only one season of eligibility remaining, topped the Bulldogs with a team high 15.6 points per game scoring average while pulling down 5.7 rebounds, and picking off 1.9 steals. Brunk left her mark on the Lady Bulldogs’ record book as she successfully converted 126 free throws, breaking the previous single season school record of 116 set in 2001-02 by Erica Alvarez.
Joining Brunk in receiving all-conference honors was senior Crystal Richardson. Richardson averaged 11.2 points, led McPherson with 6.5 rebounds, handed out 1.9 assists, and stole 1.6 passes per game. On February 12, Richardson became the fourth player in McPherson College women’s basketball history to pass the 1,000 point mark. She completed her collegiate career with 1,037 points, fourth on the McPherson all-time list. Richardson also tied Alvarez’s school record of 107 for games played in a McPherson College career.
Just prior to the end of the season, coach Mel Wright announced his intention to retire from the women’s head coaching position at the conclusion of the season. Wright ended his 10 year career at the McPherson helm with a 98-177 record.
