(Peru, Neb.)—The Peru State women's basketball team defeated College of Saint Mary in a defensive battle 63-56 Thursday night in Omaha. The Bobcats improve to 2-1 overall on the season.
 
Below is a breakdown of how the game went…
 
It was a low scoring battle for much of the first half as neither team could take the lid off the basket as College of Saint Mary led 9-6 about halfway through the first quarter. Maddy Duncan (Hamburg, Iowa) hit a shot from beyond the arc to tie the game at nine apiece.
 
After Jescenia Mosley (Shenandoah, Iowa) hit and-one play the Bobcats would take a 12-9 lead into the second quarter. The Flames would cut the lead down to one trailing 12-11 early in the second quarter.
 
Peru State then stretched its lead out to six after buckets by Olivia Williams (Minneapolis, Minn.) and a free throw by Samantha Stewart (Mount Ayr, Iowa) as the Bobcats led 17-11.
 
Neither team could get a basket for around the next two minutes as they were both on a scoring drought. The Flames then tied the game at 17 all with just under halfway to play through the first half.
 
Peru State would then go on a 5-0 run to make the score 22-17 with a free throw from Danielle Howard (Uniontown, Kan.) with baskets from Williams and Josiee Sobotka (Tobias).
 
The Flames cut it to three a couple more times at the tail end of the first half but the Bobcats would take a 26-21 lead into the break.
 
Scoring was hard to come by all game for both teams as neither team scored for the first two minutes of the second half. Natasha Deal (Winnebago) would extend the Bobcat lead out to seven knocking down two free throws from the charity stripe as they led 28-21.
 
The Flames fought back as they went on a 10-5 run to cut the lead to two as they trailed 33-31 with just under five to play in the third. Stewart would produce a big jump shot coming out of the Peru State timeout but the Flames would not go away.
 
College of Saint Mary would tie the game multiple times throughout the third quarter. The game was tied 37 all with 3:11 to play in the quarter.
 
The Bobcats then went on a 12-2 run to end the quarter as they led 49-39. Contributing to the run were free throws made by Stewart and Mosley, a big three by Duncan and jumpers by Howard and Stewart.
 
The theme of the game continued as it was another slow start for both teams in the final quarter of play. Deal made a free throw with 7:01 to play in the fourth to stop the scoring drought.
 
The Flames came right back as they made a three to cut the lead down to single digits 50-42. Late in the fourth quarter the Flames cut it to within seven, but then Kaylan Larry (Little Rock, Ark.) hit a big field goal to stretch the lead back out to nine leading 54-45.
 
College of Saint Mary cut the deficit to six with a little over a minute to play. Two big steals by Stewart helped seal the deal as the Bobcats hung onto a 63-56 win.
 
Peru State shot 19-of-53 from the field shooting 35.8%, they shot 2-of-11 from beyond the arc good for 18.2%. They shot 23-of-34 from the free throw line shooting 67.6%.
 
College of Saint Mary was 21-of-58 from the field shooting 36.2%, while they were 6-of-23 from three shooting 26.1%. The Flames shot 8-of-18 from the line good for 44.4%.
 
Sobotka and Stewart were the only Bobcats in double figures with 12 and 10 respectively while Larry finished with nine. Sobotka was the leader in rebounds with six boards. Howard and Mosley tied for the lead in assists with two. Stewart had three steals and Howard finished with two blocks.
 
Peru State has its home opener next Monday, November 7, against Haskell Indians Nation University. Tip-Off is set for 7:00 p.m.