When you hit 61.5% of your shots from behind the arc that generally spells success. And success it was for the Peru State women's basketball team as they hit a record 16 of 26 attempts on their way to a convincing 84-64 win over the visiting Culver-Stockton College Wildcats on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the Bobcats improved to 4-13 overall and 2-5 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC). The loss for the Wildcats drops them to 0-7 in conference play and 3-12 overall.
Two upsets on Saturday made the conference race even closer as the Bobcats are now within two games of third place.
Peru State won the opening tip and
Jasmine Tate (Fayetteville, N.C.) hit a field goal on an assist from
Sydney Wilkinson (St. Joseph, Mo.). Brittany Peterson (Orem, Utah) followed making one of two free throws, giving the 'Cats a 3-0 lead at the 19:07 mark.
The Wildcats scored on the next possession to cut it to 3-2. The next time down the court, Tate dished off to
Shelbie Hess (Phoenix), who hit the first of the 16 threes made by Peru State during the game. Later, after an offensive rebound by Peterson,
Karlee Stuart (Las Animas, Colo.) got in the scoring column but hitting a bucket. Hess hit another bucket to put the Bobcats up 10-4 with 16:49 to go.
An 8-0 run by Culver-Stockton gave them one of only two leads they had in the game at 12-10 with 13:36 left in the first 20 minutes. Wilkinson knotted the game at 12-12 on a pair of free throws before the Wildcats would take what would be their final lead of the game at 14-12 with 12:48 left in the half.
Peterson tied it with a bucket in the paint and then Hess hit another three-pointer to give Peru State the lead for good at 17-14 with 12:02 to go.
Later, a three-pointer by Stuart made it 29-16, giving Peru State their largest lead at that point with 8:06 to go in the first stanza. Culver-Stockton would get back within nine three different times before back-to-back threes by
Rachel Blair (Hubbard) would make it 42-27 with 2:52 in the half.
Eventually, at halftime, Peru State led 45-31.
Culver-Stockton scrapped its way back at the beginning of the second half with a 9-2 run to get within seven at 47-40 with 15:49 left in the game. That would be the closest the Wildcats would get during the rest of the game as Stuart would hit a two-pointer followed by Tate completing an old-fashioned three-point play putting the Bobcats back on top 52-40 at the 15:12 mark.
Peru State continued to stretch its lead and led by as many as 23 at 77-54 with 3:10 left in the game after Stuart hit a jumper. With 5.2 seconds left on the clock,
Ellen Foote (Hastings) scored her first points as a Bobcat to make the final score 84-64.
Team Statistics
The Bobcats had one of its best shooting games of the season as they hit 31 of 69 field goals for 44.9%, which included their 16 of 26 performance from behind the arc. At the free throw line, Peru State made 6 of 10 for 60%.
Culver-Stockton made 22 of 57 field goals for 38.6%. From three-point range, the Wildcats were 5 of 14 for 35.7%. Culver-Stockton did shoot better from the charity stripe than the Bobcats hitting 15 of 22 for 71.4%.
The Wildcats did hold the rebounding edge 39 to 30, but committed more turnovers, 19 compared to Peru State's 15.
Individual Statistics
Three Bobcats finished in double figures in the win. Peru State was led by Hess's 21 points on 8 of 11 shooting, including 4 of 6 from behind the arc. Blair was 6 of 8, all from three-point range, scoring a career-high 18 points. Stuart added 17 points on 7 of 12 shooting, which also included 3 of 4 from behind the line.
Peterson tied for game-high rebounding honors with nine. Tate dished out four assists while Wilkinson handed out three. Wilkinson was credited for two steals.
Records Set
The 16 three-pointers break a 12-year record of 13 treys set by the 2001-02 team against Oklahoma Wesleyan University. Those contributing to the 16 three-pointers were Blair – 6, Hess – 4, Stuart – 3,
Sydney Young (Omaha) – 2, and
Tai'ler Warren (Omaha) - 1.
Another record has been set during the last game against Missouri Valley as Tate now owns the career individual record of free throws attempted. Tate now has 508 attempts which broke the mark set by Hall of Famer Connie (Viner) Blank of 502 set in her career from 1986-89. In addition, Tate is closing in on the assists mark as she just needs 13 to tie the current career mark.
CULVER-STOCKTON BOX SCORE
Upcoming Games
Peru State faces two tough HAAC foes this coming week. On Thursday, the Bobcats will be hosting the Baker University Wildcats starting at 5:30 p.m. Currently, the 21
st-ranked Wildcats are 13-5 overall and are alone in second place in the HAAC with a 6-1 mark.
The Bobcats will travel to Marshal, Mo., on Saturday to take on the Eagles of Central Methodist University at 2 p.m. The Eagles are receiving votes in the most recent coaches' poll, but dropped a close contest on Saturday to the league-leading MidAmerica Nazarene team. Presently, Central Methodist is 12-4 overall and 3-3 in the HAAC.
