No. 8-ranked Clarke dominates second half in victory over C-SC women

CANTON, Mo. — Culver-Stockton College celebrated Saturday the return of its 2019-20 women’s basketball team, which qualified for the NAIA national tournament before it was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wildcats coach Janette Burgin wanted to ask a couple of her former players to grab a jersey to stop nationally-ranked Clarke (Iowa) in the second half.

The Pride, ranked No. 8 in the NAIA poll, made 16 of 25 shots and outscored the Wildcats 46-24 in the second half to captured a 76-54 victory in a Heart of America Athletic Conference game at Charles Field House.

“I went up to three of them who I know have eligibility and said ‘Hey, guys, want to come back?’” Burgin said with a smile. “They all kind of gave me a little bit of an eye like, ‘Oh, we do miss it.’ They’re all doing fantastic, and it was great to see those guys. I was so proud they got to celebrate together, because we didn’t get to do that.”

C-SC didn’t have much to celebrate in the second half. 

The Wildcats (7-5, 1-3 in Heart play) trailed by as many as nine points in the first half, but they rallied to tie the score at the intermission. Kiana Ortiz hit two free throws with one second on the clock to even the score.

However, the Pride needed just four minutes to score the first 13 points of the third quarter to take the lead for good. C-SC had three turnovers and three missed shots during the run.

“Honestly, I think we just didn’t show up. Didn’t show up,” Burgin said. “We got content that we were in (the game at halftime). I’ve been preaching defense, defense, defense, and we got complacent. Then we turned the ball over and let them score, and we got our heads down. 

“We didn’t show up in the second half, which is unfortunate.”

The Wildcats got as close as eight points late in the third quarter, but a buzzer-beating basket by Nicole McDermott put Clarke ahead 54-44.

The Pride then put the game away with a 12-1 run to start the fourth quarter. C-SC missed six shots and turned the ball over four times in the first 5 1/2 minutes of the quarter.

Twelve of the Wildcats’ 19 turnovers came in the second half. The Pride outrebounded C-SC 37-26. 

“They’re a top 25 team for a reason,” Burgin said. “They were excellent. They did exactly what they needed to do to put us down, and we didn’t respond.”

A bone contusion sidelined C-SC freshman Addison Newbon, who leads the team in scoring with an average of 13.6 points per game. She scored a season-high 28 points in Wednesday’s 73-69 overtime loss to Mount Mercy. Senior Taylor Green led the Wildcats in scoring with 11 points.