(Peru, Neb.) – After leading for the first 34 minutes of the game, the Peru State women's basketball team saw Culver-Stockton College outscore them 19 to 3 in the last six minutes to take an 80-65 victory in Peru on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the Wildcats – who were receiving votes in the latest poll – improved to 18-6 overall and 11-5 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. Peru State fell to 5-19 overall and 2-14 in conference play.
Justice Daniel finished with a Bobcat
career-high of 26 points First Quarter Action The way the first quarter started had Bobcat fans excited as by the end of the period Peru State was leading 27-8. Culver-Stockton scored the first bucket of the game, but
Kiley Guerue (Morrill) hit a hoop on an assist from
Sydney Wilkinson (St. Joseph, Mo.) to give Peru State the lead.
Rashaun Casey (Rogers, Ark.) would hit a three-pointer on an assist from Wilkinson and then Guerue would get another bucket to make it 7-2. Casey would hit another three, this time on an assist from
Jackie Robles (Parlier, Calif.) as the Bobcats would lead 10-2 with 7:02 to go in the stanza. Peru State built its lead to 19 at 25-6 on a field goal by
Justice Daniel (Olathe, Kan.) with 1:56 to go.
Second Quarter Action Culver-Stockton got the first bucket of the second quarter which was answered by a trey by
Madara Laure (Riga, Latvia) on an assist from Daniel with 8:52 to go in the period. The Bobcats led 30-10 at that juncture in the game. From that point on, the Wildcats outscored Peru State 22 to 11 and trailed 41 to 32 at halftime.
Rashaun Casey hits a trey for Peru State. Casey
finished with 11 points. Third Quarter Action The third quarter was tightly played as the Wildcats only outscored Peru State 17-15. After Guerue scored the first two points of the quarter, Culver-Stockton got back within four at 47-43 with 3:14 remaining in the period. Daniel would hit back-to-back threes with the first one coming on an assist from Robles and suddenly, the Bobcats were back up to ten at 53-43 with 2:14 remaining. At the end of the period, Peru State still had a seven-point lead at 56-49.
Fourth Quarter Action After Wilkinson started the quarter with a field goal, the Wildcats made one of two free throws to make the score 58-50. Another bucket by Wilkinson put the Bobcats back up by ten at 60-50, but that was when the Wildcats decided it was time to play. Culver-Stockton took their first lead at 63-62 with 5:15 left in the contest. Peru State was still within one at 65-64 after Casey made a pair of free throws but the Bobcats would only score one more point the rest of the game.
CULVER-STOCKTON GAME BOOK Team Statistics Culver-Stockton made 34 of 78 field goals for 43.6% which included making just 2 of 16 from long range for 12.5%. At the charity stripe, the Wildcats made 10 of 15 for 66.7%. Peru State cooled off in the second half and finished the game making 25 of 68 field goal attempts for 36.8%. From behind the arc, the Bobcats made 9 of 27 of 33.3%. At the free throw line, Peru State made 6 of 13 for 46.2%.
Madara Laure is always intense on defense. Laure
finished with 11 points and nine rebounds in the loss.One of the biggest differences in the game came in the rebounding stats as the Wildcats doubled up the Bobcats by grabbing 58 boards compared to Peru State's 26. The Wildcats had 16 assists while Peru State dished out nine. Culver-Stockton did commit a few more turnovers than Peru State as they had 17 and the Bobcats had 13. The Wildcats blocked two shots while the Bobcats had one. The Bobcats did get nine steals while the Wildcats had six.
Individual Statistics Daniel finished with a Bobcat career- and game-high 26 points on 10 of 21 shooting and 2 of 2 at the free throw line. Laure and Casey each finished with 11 points in the loss.
Laure just missed a double-double as she grabbed nine rebounds while Guerue added seven.
Wilkinson and Daniel each dished out three assists with Robles adding two. Laure was credited with the team's only blocked shot and also led the team with three steals. Wilkinson, Guerue, and Daniel each had two steals.
Upcoming Games Peru State will be at home again this coming Wednesday night when they host MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) University at 5:30 p.m. The eighth-ranked Pioneers are 19-4 on the season and are 14-2 in the Heart – just one game behind league-leading Central Methodist (Mo.) University.
Wednesday night's game will "Black-Out" Night which is sponsored by the Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC). SAAC encourages all Bobcat fans to dress in black in order to support the basketball teams when they host the Pioneers.
On Saturday, the Bobcats will travel to Marshall, Mo., to face Missouri Valley College at 2 p.m. Presently, the Vikings are 9-11 overall and 7-9 in the Heart. Missouri Valley has lost three games in a row.
