Loper Women Run Past the Jennies by 17

Kearney, Neb. – Nebraska Kearney got 29 points off its bench and led almost the entire way in a 70-53 win over Central Missouri Saturday afternoon at the Health & Sports Center.

The Lopers (8-2, 2-0) and Jennies (7-6, 0-3) meet again on January 30th in Warrensburg with UNK having won three of the last four in the series.

Hit hard by graduation and portal losses, the Jennies were coming off a 30-point loss at Fort Hays State Thursday night. They got out to an early 11-4 lead today but, after a Loper timeout, the winds changed. UNK closed the first quarter on an 11-3 run and the route was on.

"We called a timeout at 11-4 and then I think it was 35-15 from that point on and to end the half. We just challenged the team to get back to the scouting report. We've done a great job Friday in prepping and once we got settled in, I felt we were the more physical team," said UNK head coach Drew Johnson.

Buoyed by sophomore Jordan Sears (McPherson, Kan.) and freshman Alex Flattery (Sioux City, Ia.), the Lopers big quarter run featured two threes from senior Samantha Moore (Mullen), a three-point play from sophomore reserve post Bailee Sobczak (Rapid City, S.D.) and a paint bucket by gradate post Kia Wilson (St. George, Kan.).

"Our team does something called put ups after the game to just kind of highlight the best parts of the night. And our team identified Jordan and Alex as bringing extreme energy and toughness and really were a sparkplug in the game," said UNK head coach Drew Johnson. "We're playing 10 and that's a large number but everyone can score it a little bit, everyone is doing good stuff on the defensive end…it makes us really hard to beat I think."

The momentum continued in the second quarter as UNK outscored UCM by a 24-12 margin. Sears (seven) and Sobczak (five) combined for half the points with the Lopers posting a 12-5 rebounding margin and limiting the Jennies to 3 of 11 shooting. Ahead 39-26 at the break, UNK didn't let its lead slip into single digits the rest of the afternoon.

"Bailee plays so hard, and we've been on her about the defensive end of the floor. She answered that call and been great. We chart defensive errors, and she was perfect in the last game and was good again tonight," said Johnson.

All 10 Lopers scored with eight between eight and 15 points. Sobczak made five field goals and five free throws to lead while Sears and Flattery combined for 13 points and Moore finished with 13 points, six rebounds and three assists. Finally, Sobczak had nine rebounds (eight offensive) and Lincoln sophomore wing Brinly Christensen had 10 points, four steals and four boards.

"Brinly was unbelievable tonight. She's kicked in some threes of late, but she defended as well as I've seen," said Johnson. "Proud of the effort and intensity she brought to the defensive end."

Three UCM starters reached double figures led by wing Reese Schaaf (15 points, six boards) and 6-3 freshman Taylor Weishaar (13 points, six rebounds).

With fall finals coming up, UNK is now off until a December 16 home game against the York University Panters.