Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 (Peru, Neb.)—The Peru State women's basketball season began over the weekend as they went 1-1 on their first road of the year. On Friday night, they defeated Central Christian College 82-63. On Saturday night they were defeated by McPherson 73-56.
 
Below is a breakdown of how each game went…
 
Game 1 at Central Christian College
 
The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair as neither team could get out to a big lead. The Tigers could only extend out their lead by three before Danielle Howard (Uniontown, Kan.) hit a jumper to make the score 14-13 Central Christian.
 
The Tigers then went on an 8-0 run to make the score 22-13 to take an 11-point lead late in the first quarter. The Bobcats then came roaring back in the final two minutes of the first as they went on as 12-3 run to tie the game at 25 apiece.
 
Natasha Deal (Winnebago) and Josiee Sobotka (Tobias) knocked in a couple field goals on the run and Maddy Duncan (Hamburg, Iowa) hit a three pointer. Two free throws by Samantha Stewart (Mount Ayr, Iowa) tied the game at the end of the first.
 
The second quarter was tight most of the way through as Central Christian found away to extend its lead out to five 31-26 with 6:13 left in the half. Then a 9-0 run by the Bobcats had them retake the lead 35-31 after a three-point bucket from Duncan.
 
Peru State had one last big run in the first half after Central Christian had cut it to within two at 37-35. A 7-0 run to close out the first half helped the Bobcats go into the locker room with a nine-point lead 44-35.
 
Out of the half the Bobcats extended their lead out to ten up 48-38, after baskets by Duncan and Deal. The Tigers would get the score to within 11 points down 52-41, but they could not find their way back into the game.
 
The Bobcats would keep the Tigers at arm's length for much of the third quarter. The Tigers got it within ten and 11 points a few more in the third but Peru State would have a substantial lead 62-49 going into the final quarter of play.
 
Peru State opened the final quarter on a 10-2 run with the help of buckets from Hailey Ingram (Omaha), Howard and Sobotka as they led 72-52.
 
The Tigers would only get within 18 points in the fourth quarter as the Bobcats steamrolled to an 82-63 victory.
 
Duncan led the way in points with 14, while Howard finished with 12, Ingram had 11, Sobotka and Jescenia Mosley (Shenandoah, Iowa) finished with 10 apiece. Howard led the way in assists with four and Stewart finished with a team high eight rebounds.
 
The Tigers shot 20-of-62 from the field shooting 32.3%. They were 5-of-26 from beyond the arc shooting 19.2% and were 18-of-23 from the free throw line shooting 78.3%.
 
Peru State was 33-of-73 from the field shooting 45.2%. They were 4-of-19 from beyond the arc shooting 21.1% and were 12-of-23 from the charity stripe shooting 52.2%.
 
Game 2 at McPherson
 
McPherson got out to an early 12-7 lead in the first quarter before Peru State would start to come back as Kaylan Larry (Little Rock, Ark.) made a two-point bucket and a couple of free throws as the Bobcats went down by one 12-11.
 
The Bulldogs were able to maintain their lead for the rest of the first quarter as they were up four 17-13, heading into the second. Larry would get the Bobcats back within one as she had made a three-point play.
 
The Bobcats would be right there for much of the second half as Duncan would make one free throw to be down by just two 20-18, then McPherson hit a three pointer to be back up five. The Bobcats would then go on a mini 6-2 run to get the score back within one down 25-24 after made baskets by Sobotka, Mosley and Howard.
 
The Bulldogs went on a 9-4 run to end the first half as they would take 34-28 lead into the locker room.
 
McPherson stayed hot coming out the break as they went on a 6-1 run to take a 40-29 lead in the middle of the third quarter. Peru State then would cut the lead to six from a bucket by Olivia Williams (Minneapolis, Minn.) and a three-point basket from Duncan.
 
McPherson then went on a 11-5 run to close out the third quarter to take a 51-39 lead. Duncan would have the last basket in the third quarter from beyond the arc.
 
The Bobcats would get to within nine from a three-point jump shot by Duncan early in the fourth quarter. Then halfway through the fourth quarter the Bobcats would get to within eight after a field goal by Williams. Peru State was down 55-47 with 5:50 to play.
 
Each time the Bobcats would get the score within single digits the Bulldogs would find a way to extend their lead. The Bobcats only scored nine points the rest of the way as they fell to the Bulldogs 73-56.
 
Duncan led the way in points with 15, while Larry came in second with 14 and Williams finished with 10. Sobotka grabbed 15 rebounds as she was the clear leader in the game. Larry led the way in assists with two as the Bobcats only finished with four.

McPherson shot 21-of-65 from the floor shooting 32.3%. They shot poorly from beyond the arc as they were 4-of-16 shooting 25%. The Bulldogs had 37 attempts from the free throw line knocking down 27 as they shot 73%.
 
Peru State shot 16-of-65 from the field shooting 24.6%. The Bobcats were 5-of-15 shooting 33.3% from beyond the arc. The Bobcats were 19-of-33 from the charity stripe shooting 57.6%.
 
Peru State hits the road to take on College of Saint Mary in Omaha on Wednesday, November 2. Tip-Off is set for 6:00 p.m.