Slow Start Dooms Women's Basketball
Nov 16, 2018
STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The University of Dubuque women’s basketball team could not recover from a slow start and dropped their first game at the UWSP Tip-Off to UW-Stevens Point, 87-56.
McKenzie Maahs scored the opening basket of the game for the Spartans but that was the last lead they would have on Friday night as UW-Stevens Point then went on an 18-1 run to jump out to an 18-3 lead and trailed 27-13 after the opening frame.
After giving up 27 points in the first quarter, the UD defense turned things around in the second quarter. The Spartans limited Stevens-Point to just 16 points in the second quarter and an Abigail Zurcher three pointer and fast break jumper in the final minute of the first half sent the Spartans into halftime on a high note and had the deficit down to 43-30 after trailing by as many as 20. Zurcher led all scorers at the break with 10 points on three of four shooting from the field.
An Abigail Zurcher jumper in the early part of the third quarter got the Spartans within 11 points but UW-Stevens Point responded with a 7-0 run to expand their lead back to 18. The Pointers continued to pull away from the Spartans, building a lead as big as 22 at the end of the third quarter.
After an impressive first half, the Pointers made it a point to slow down Zurcher in the second half, limiting her to just two points in the half to finish with 12 for the game. McKenzie Maahs was the second highest scorer for the Spartans, scoring eight points and leading the team with seven rebounds. Morgan Meerstein was the only other Spartan with more than five points, finishing with seven.
The UD offense was hounded all night and limited to just 27.0% shooting from the field. The Spartans did get to the line 25 times, making 18 of those for 72.0%.
The UD women will finish off the UW-Stevens Point Tip-Off against UW-Whitewater on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
