(Peru, Neb.)—Peru State women's basketball fell to No. 4 Central Methodist 104-63 on Saturday afternoon. Peru State is now 5-10 overall and 1-8 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play while Central Methodist is now 14-0 overall and 8-0 in conference play.
 
Below is a breakdown of how the game went…
 
The Bobcats started out hot as they took a 5-0 lead after a three-pointer from Maddy Duncan (Hamburg, Iowa) and a bucket from Julie Miller (Easton, Kan.). Central Methodist then flexed its muscle as they went on a 25-4 run to take a 25-9 lead with around four minutes to play in the first quarter.
 
The Bobcats then went on a mini 7-3 run to cut the deficit down to 28-16 with under a minute to play. Contributing to the run were baskets by Sam Stewart (Mount Ayr, Iowa), Miller and a free throw by Danielle Howard (Uniontown, Kan.).
 
The Eagles took a 30-16 lead into the second quarter. Peru State was able to cut the lead down to 14, 35-21, after Jescenia Mosley (Shenandoah, Iowa) laid one in. Central Methodist then went on an 8-0 run to take the lead out to 43-21 with around half the second quarter to play.
 
Peru State cut the lead down to 18, trailing 43-25 after a jump shot from Mosley. Central Methodist closed the half on a 11-5 run to make the score 54-30 heading into break.
 
Peru State got off to a hot start in the second half, as they opened the half with a 7-0 run as they now trailed 54-37. Contributing to the run was a three by Duncan, a layup by Howard and a jumper by Miller.
 
The two teams then would be trading points for the next few minutes but Central Methodist kept their comfortable lead as they were up 65-41 after 11-4 run in the middle of the third quarter.
 
Peru State went on a quick 6-2 run as they would still trail by 20 after a Duncan three 67-47. The Eagles went into the final quarter of play with a 79-53 lead as they finished the third on a 12-6 run.
 
The Eagles put the pedal to the ground in the fourth quarter as they only let the Bobcats score 11 points in the fourth. The Eagles scored 25 points in the fourth quarter to get to triple digits for their 14^th consecutive win.
 
Peru State shot 23-of-68 from the field shooting 33.8%, 6-of-22 from beyond the arc shooting 27.3% and 11-of-14 from the line shooting 78.6%. Central Methodist shot 41-of-85 from the field shooting 48.2%, 13-of-36 from deep shooting 36.1% and 9-of-18 from the charity stripe shooting 50%.
 
Central Methodist outscored Peru State 48-22 off points in the paint, 44-11 in points off turnovers and 30-27 in bench points. Peru State led Central Methodist in second chance points 15-10.
 
Duncan led the way in points with 17, Stewart finished with 14 and Miller had nine. Miller nearly had a double-double with nine rebounds a team high as well. Mosley, Kaylan Larry (Little Rock, Ark.) and Olivia Williams (Minneapolis, Minn.) all tied for the lead in assists with three.
 
Peru State returns home to take on William Penn, Wednesday, January 11. Tip-Off is set for 5:30 p.m.