(Peru, Neb.) – Although the Peru State women's basketball fought their way back to a tie at 77-77, the 'Cats could not overtake the College of St. Mary Flames (CSM) Friday night. The Flames regained the lead at 80-77 and never trailed the rest of the game on their way to a 91-87 win.
 
Peru State played from behind most of the contest and even when close, the Flames would extend their lead.
 
College of St. Mary is 1-0 on the year while Peru State fell to 1-1.

 
First Quarter Action
 
The Flames scored the first 12 points of the game before Jackie Beaugard (Omaha) hit a field goal off an assist from Abigail Niebrugge (Omaha) at the 6:59 mark in the first. Beaugard was fouled on the play and converted the old-fashioned three-point play. After a Flames' turnover, Beaugard fed Kyle Johnson (Honolulu) for a bucket to make it 12-5. That would be as close as Peru State would be in the first ten minutes as the College of St. Mary pulled away for a 24-11 lead at the end of the quarter.
 
Second Quarter Action
 
Niebrugge started the second stanza with a trey to cut it to ten at 24-14 with 9:21 left in the first half. College of St. Mary led by double-digits until Niebrugge hit another trey, this time on assist from Brooke Maeda (Honolulu) with 4:31 left in the second quarter.
 
Peru State could not get any closer the rest of the quarter and went into halftime trailing by ten at 45-35.
 
Third Quarter Action
 
Beaugard started with a trey in the second half on an assist from Niebrugge with 8:14 left in the quarter. After a blocked shot by Johnson, Kiley Guerue (Morrill) hit a field goal in the paint on an assist from Beaugard. Madea then stole a Flames' pass which was followed with a field goal by Johnson off another assist from Beaugard. It was 45-42 CSM at 7:29 left in the third.
 
The Flames would score the next ten points and went back up by 13 before Destany Ross (Gretna) drained a three on an assist from Madea. Once again, the Flames would continue to build their lead and led by 17 at 66-49 with 2:00 minutes left in the quarter.
 

Peru State would cut the lead to ten by the end of the quarter. Maddy McPhillips (Omaha) would hit a trey off an assist from Deandra Williams (Rosenburg, Texas) to make it 66-52. Williams would later dish it to Beaugard in the paint for a two-pointer with 56 seconds left in the stanza. With 23 ticks left in the third quarter, Deja Cato (Pontiac, Mich.) hit a jumper in the paint to make 66-56 at the end of the third.
 
Fourth Quarter Action
 
The 'Cats would continue to cut into the Flames' lead and with 7:52 left in the game, Williams hit a bucket off an assist from Guerue to make it 70-66. Later, at the 6:10 mark, Kennedi Cooper (Long Beach, Calif.) stole the ball and dished it to Beaugard who put it in to make it 74-72.
 
Later, Guerue would hit a pair of free throws to tie it at 77-77 with 4:42 left in the game. But, CSM would hit back-to-back three-pointers to capture the lead for what would be the rest of the game. Peru State would get back to within two at 85-83 after Beaugard hit a trey on an assist from Madea with 2:39 left.
 
Later, with 42 seconds left, Beaugard hit a two-pointer in the paint to make it 89-87, but that was as close as Peru State would be in the game.

COLLEGE OF ST. MARY GAME BOOK
 
Team Statistics
 
Both teams shot the ball very well as Peru State actually outshot the Flames by making 32 of 65 field goals for 49.2% while CSM made 30 of 63 tries for 47.6%. The difference in the game came from behind the arc as the Flames made 14 of 25 for 56% while Peru State made 8 of 20 for 40%. The teams were nearly even at the charity stripe as CSM made 17 of 27 for 63% while the 'Cats made 15 of 22 for 68.2%.
 
The Flames held a big advantage in rebounding as they grabbed 39 boards compared to Peru State's 27.
 
The 'Cats had 26 assists while CSM had 17. The Flames committed 27 turnovers while Peru State had 23. The Bobcats blocked four shots in the game and had 16 steals while CSM had six steals.
 
Individual Statistics
 

For the second game in a row, Peru State had five players in double figures. Beaugard led the Bobcats with 22 points on 9 of 15 shooting, including 2 of 4 from behind the arc. Niebrugge finished with 16 while Johnson added 13. Williams added 11 and Guerue finished with ten.
 
Beaugard had a game-high eight rebounds with Johnson finishing with six. Williams grabbed five boards.
 
Madea had a game-high nine assists with Beaugard dishing out six. Niebrugge finished with four assists.
 
Beaugard and Johnson each blocked two shots.
 
Niebrugge finished with a game-high five steals while Madea added four. Beaugard and Williams added three and two steals respectively.
 
Upcoming Games
 
Peru State has two more home games next week. On Tuesday, the 'Cats will host Mount Marty (S.D.) at 5:30 p.m. The Lancers are 1-0 on the year and will play two more games before heading to the AWAC next week.
 
On Saturday, the Bobcats will begin Heart of America Athletic Conference action when the Evangel (Mo.) Crusaders come to town. Evangel is currently 0-2 and will play one more game before coming to Peru for the 2 p.m. ballgame.